-nomy

From Ancient Greek νόμος (nómos, “law, custom”).

bor

a system of rules, laws, or knowledge about a body of a particular field; distribution, arrangement, management

-nomie

system of rules, laws, or knowledge about a particular field


-ad

From Ancient Greek -άς (-ás) (genitive -άδος (-ádos)): a suffix forming feminine nouns.

chiliad, duodecad

a unit or set (especially of a specified number)

tibiad; ulnad


-arch

From Late Latin -archa, from Latin -archēs, from Ancient Greek -άρχης (-árkhēs), from ἀρχή (arkhḗ, “rule, government”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ergʰ- (“to begin, rule, command”).


-athlon

From Ancient Greek ἆθλον (âthlon, “contest”).


-cracy

From Ancient Greek -κρατία (-kratía), from κράτος (krátos, “power”).
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *kret-
Ancient Greek κρᾰ́τος (krắtos)
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂
Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā)
Ancient Greek -κρᾰτῐ́ᾱ (-krătĭ́ā)bor.
English -cracy


-ectomy

From Ancient Greek ἐκτομή (ektomḗ, “a cutting out of”), from ἐκτέμνω (ektémnō, “to cut out”), from ἐκ (ek, “out”) + τέμνω (témnō, “to cut”).

der

-plasty

any surgery, but often one that revises/remodels rather than excises


-fugal

Formed from the stem of Latin fugiō (“flee”), with the suffix -al, from Latin -alis.


-itude

Borrowed from Middle French -itude, from Latin -(i)tūdō.


-ful

Inherited from Middle English -ful, -full, from Old English -ful, -full (“full of; -ful”), from Proto-Germanic *-fullaz (“-ful”), from Proto-Germanic *fullaz (“full”); see full. Cognate with Scots -fu, Saterland Frisian -ful (“-ful”), West Frisian -fol (“-ful”), Dutch -vol (“-ful”), German -voll (“-ful”), Swedish -full (“-ful”), Danish -fuld (“-ful”), Icelandic -fullur, -fyllur (“-ful”).

sin + -ful → sinful

Used to form adjectives from nouns, with the sense of being full of, tending to, or thoroughly possessing the quality expressed by the noun.


-ful

Inherited from Middle English -ful, from Old English -ful, -full, from Proto-Germanic *fullō, *fullijô (“filling”).

bowl + -ful → bowlful

hand + -ful → handful

Used to form nouns from nouns meaning “as much as can be held by what is denoted by the noun”


-kinesis

From Ancient Greek κίνησις (kínēsis, “motion, movement”), from κινέω (kinéō, “I move, put in motion”).


-onym

classical compound
en:-onym
international scientific vocabulary

From international scientific vocabulary, reflecting a New Latin combining form, from Ancient Greek ὄνυμα (ónuma), Doric and Aeolic dialectal form of ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”); compare also -onymy § Etymology.


-polis

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *tpelH-
Proto-Hellenic *ptólis
Ancient Greek πόλις (pólis)bor.
Latin -polislbor.
English -polis
Learned borrowing from Latin -polis, from Ancient Greek πόλις (pólis, “city”).

etymon

Forms names of cities or kinds of cities.


-philia

From Ancient Greek φιλία (philía, “(fraternal) love”).

der

Afrophilia = a love of Africa or African people

Used to form nouns meaning liking, love (for something).

(pathology) Used to form nouns meaning abnormal liking or tendency (for something), e.g. paraphilia.

-fília

forming words denoting abnormal linking towards a given thing


-scope

From Ancient Greek σκοπέω (skopéō, “examine, inspect, look to or into, consider”).

Used to make terms denoting an instrument used for viewing or examination.


-aemia

From Ancient Greek αἷμα (haîma, “blood”).

(British spelling, medicine) Blood; presence in blood (of a substance denoted by an affixed combining form); state or condition of the blood.

-uria

urine; presence in urine; state or condition of urine


-phone

From Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound, voice, speech, language”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰoh₂neh₂, from *bʰeh₂- (“to speak”); related to fame and fable.
Some terms ending in phone, such as textphone, are actually compounds made with phone.

allophone; homophone

aerophone; saxophone

Anglophone; Francophone; Germanophone

Forming adjectives: speaking a certain language.

Anglophone; Francophone; Germanophone

Forming nouns: a speaker of a certain language.


-ship

From Middle English -schipe, -shippe, from Old English -sċiepe, from Proto-West Germanic *-skapi, from Proto-Germanic *-skapiz.
Compare Scots -schip, West Frisian -skip, Dutch -schap, German -schaft, Swedish -skap, Icelandic -skapur. Related to shape.

fellow → fellowship

owner → ownership

Appended to a noun to form a new noun denoting a property or state of being, time spent in a role, or a specialised union. In particular, the way a set of social duties associated with a particular role shapes or develop's one's character.

-ություն

suffix denoting a property or state of being


-wise

From Middle English -wis, from Old English -wīs (“-wise”), from Proto-West Germanic *-wīs, from Proto-Germanic *-wīsaz, from Proto-Germanic *wīsaz (“wise, skilled, knowledgeable”), related to Old English wīs, wīse (“manner, way, fashion”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian -wiese, Dutch -wijs, German -weise, Danish -vis, Swedish -vis, Norwegian Bokmål -vis (“-wise”). More at wise (“way, manner”).

The gaoler slowly turned the key clockwise.

You need to follow the instructions carefully; otherwise, the project may not turn out.

Contrariwise, it could be a good idea.

This morning looks promising, weather-wise.

They had parents in India—that much Octavian had learned in the neighbourhood; the children, beyond grouping themselves garment-wise into sexes, a girl and two boys, carried their life-story no further on his behoof.

1919, Saki, “The Penance”, in The Toys of Peace, page 423:

Weather-wise, it's such a lovely day

1958, “Come Fly With Me”, performed by Frank Sinatra:

Add the reagent dropwise to the solution.


-ment

From Middle English -ment, from Old French -ment, from Latin -mentum.

Attached to a verb to form a noun meaning the action denoted by the verb or its result.


-ize

From Middle English -isen, from Middle French -iser, from Late Latin -izāre, from Ancient Greek -ίζω (-ízō), from Proto-Indo-European *-idyé- (verbal suffix). Cognate with Old English -ettan (verbal suffix).

-化する (-かする, -ka-suru) (化 (-か, -ka) + する (-suru))

pixel + -ize → pixelize

Used to form verbs from nouns or adjectives, especially similative verbs

to make what is denoted by the noun/adjective

cannibal + -ize → cannibalize

to do what is denoted by the noun/adjective


-ize

palliard + -ize → palliardize

Alternative form of -ise (suffix used to form nouns)


-ise

Alternative form of -ize used in certain words; see the usage notes.


-ise

From Middle English -ise, from Old French -ise, borrowed from Latin -itia.

merchandise, franchise

Suffix used in loanwords from French to form abstract nouns of quality or function.


-plex

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame--plex.wav

Comprising a number of parts, as in duplex.

(mathematics) ten to the power of the number, as in googolplex.


-mobile

Used to form nouns meaning a particular type of vehicle, particularly one to transport the person or thing described by the word to which the suffix is attached.


-ness

From Middle English -nes, -nesse, from Old English -nis, -nes, from Proto-West Germanic *-nassī, from Proto-Germanic *-inassuz.
This suffix was formed already in Proto-Germanic by false division of the final consonant *-n- of the preceding stem + the actual suffix *-assuz. The latter was in turn derived from an earlier *-at(s)-tuz, from the verbal suffix *-at-janą + the noun suffix *-þuz. Compare German and Dutch -nis of the same origin.

calm + -ness → calmness

dark + -ness → darkness

kind + -ness → kindness

one + -ness → oneness

Appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being (the adjective)", "the quality of being (the adjective)", or "the measure of being (the adjective)".

ـِيَّة

appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."

-性

used most frequently in loanwords, as many adjectives may be used as nouns in Chinese

that + -ness → thatness

tree + -ness → treeness

thug + -ness → thugness

Appended to words of other parts of speech to form nouns (often nonce words or terms in philosophy) meaning the state/quality/measure of the idea represented by these words.


-ast

From Latin -asta, from Ancient Greek -αστής (-astḗs), from -άζω (-ázō, verbal suffix) + -τής (-tḗs, agent-noun suffix).


-athon

A greatly extended period of any activity, usually for the purpose of fundraising.


-let

From Middle English -let, -elet, from Old French -elet, a double diminutive from Old French -el + -et.

booklet, a small book

applet, a small computer application

owlet, a small (young) owl

piglet, a small (young) pig

manlet, a short man

bracelet, the "arm piece" or "arm protector"

gauntlet, the "glove piece" or "glove protector"

epaulet, the "shoulder piece" or "shoulder protector"

Piece; as in a suit of armor; for example:


-mancy

From Latin -mantīa, ultimately from Ancient Greek μᾰντείᾱ (mănteíā, “divination”).

der

-mance: to carry out a specified form of magic

-mancer: a person who employs a specified form of magic

(fantasy) Variety of magic, especially that controlling or related to a specific element, substance, or theme.


-ify

From Middle English -ifien, from Old French -ifier, from Latin -ificare, from -ficus, from facio,
"make" or "do". For example, purify from purificare, from purificus.


-hood

From Middle English -hod, from Old English -hād, from Proto-West Germanic *-haidu, from Proto-Germanic *haiduz (compare -head).
Cognate with German -heit, -keit, Dutch -heid, Afrikaans -heid, Swedish -het, Elfdalian -iet, Norwegian Bokmål -het, Norwegian Nynorsk -heit, Danish -hed. The Swedish, Elfdalian, Norwegian and Danish endings were borrowed from Middle Low German.

child - childhood

A substantive suffix denoting a condition or state of being.

brother - brotherhood

neighbour - neighbourhood

A substantive suffix denoting a group sharing a specified condition or state.


-son

From Middle English -son, Nordic/North Germanic patronyms of the form (name) + son.

Added to a stem (usually a given name or surname) to form a patronymic or matronymic surname.

(Hong Kong) Added to a stem (usually a given name or surname) to form a given name.


-worthy

Partly from worthy (combining form), and partly continuing Middle English -wurthe (“-able”), from Old English -wierþe (“-able”), from Proto-West Germanic -*wirþī, from Proto-West Germanic *wirþī, from Proto-Germanic *wirþijaz (“worthy”), from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn, bend”). Cognate with Dutch -waardig (“-worthy”), German -würdig (“-worthy”).

inh

creditworthy, respectworthy

airworthy; seaworthy; lifeworthy; crashworthy; stormworthy

Suitable or safe for; capable of enduring or able to bear; able to withstand.

trustworthy

fareworthy

Having the right, power, permission, or freedom to.

having the right, power, permission, or freedom to

vapaa (tekemään jotakin: "to do something")


-some

From Middle English -som, -sum, from Old English -sum (“same as; -some”), from Proto-West Germanic *-sam, from Proto-Germanic *-samaz, from Proto-Germanic *samaz (“same”). Akin to Saterland Frisian -soam (“-some”), West Frisian -sum (“-some”), Dutch -zaam (“-some”), German Low German -saam (“-some”), German -sam (“-some”), Danish -som, Swedish -sam, Icelandic -samur (“-some”), Gothic -𐍃𐌰𐌼𐍃 (-sams), -𐍃𐌰𐌼𐌰 (-sama). Cognate with Albanian -shëm (“-some”). More at same, some.

Elsewhere the blingsome silver-beveled mirrors, butterfly and lotus blossom motifs, and the occasional chaise longue make the opulence a touch on the show-off side for me, but the expenses were obviously 5-star and it's undoubtedly bespoke.

2012, Tom Sandham, World's Best Cocktails:

(forms adjectives from nouns or adjectives) Characterized by some specific condition or quality, usually to a considerable degree.


-some

From Middle English -som, from a specialized use of Old English sum (“some, one”) coming after a genitive plural (e.g. hē wæs fēowertiga sum --"he was one of forty", literally "he was forties' some[one]"; sixa sum --"one of six, sixsome").

(forms nouns from numerals) Denoting a group with a certain number of members.


-some

From previous sense “body” (from Ancient Greek σῶμα (sôma, “body”)), by analogy with chromosome.


-some

From some in its "approximately" sense; more at some § Etymology.

twenty-some identifiable factors affecting the outcome

one-hundred-and-fifty-some spectators in the bleachers

Plus some indeterminate fraction not amounting to the next higher round number or significant digit; and change; -odd.


-tastic

I don't get out to the movies that much, but "Bluntman and Chronic" was blunt-tastic.

2001, Kevin Smith, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, spoken by Whillenholly (Will Ferrell):

(slang, sometimes sarcastic) Fantastic; used to form adjectives conveying praise or celebration.


-algia

From New Latin -algia, from Ancient Greek ἄλγος (álgos, “pain”).


-et

Inherited from Middle English -et, from Old French -et.

Used to form diminutives, loosely construed.


-trophy

From Ancient Greek τροφή (trophḗ, “food, nourishment”), from τρέφω (tréphō, “I congeal, thicken”).


fu

UNIX fu


-logical

Used to form adjectival forms of nouns ending in -logy.


-trix

From numerous Latinate feminine agent nouns.

Most of these derived terms were borrowed directly from Latin

(dated, plural usually -trices) Found on the end of words, chiefly female agent nouns.

(BDSM, plural usually -trixes) Forms nouns defining women who engage in specific forms of sexual dominance (by analogy with dominatrix)


-free

From Middle English -fre, -freo (as in scotfre, gauelfre, gafolfreo, etc.), from Old English -frēo ("free; free from"; as in scotfrēo, gafolfrēo), from Proto-West Germanic *-frī (“-free”). Compare Dutch -vrij (“-free”), German -frei (“-free”), Danish -fri (“-free”), Swedish -fri (“-free”), Norwegian -fri (“-free”). More at free.


-phile

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *bʰil-
Proto-Indo-European *-os
Proto-Hellenic *pʰílos
Ancient Greek φίλος (phílos)bor.
Latin -philalbor.
English -phile
Learned borrowing from Latin -phila, from Ancient Greek φίλος (phílos, “dear, beloved”).

der

Scott is such a bibliophile that he won't even put that book down.

Forming nouns and adjectives meaning "loving", "friendly", or "friend".

-fil

Forming nouns and adjectives denoting "friend"


-ologist

Alternative spelling of -logist (“one who studies a subject”)


-bot

Voltbot: 'WE HAVE PREPARED YOU, STRIPPED YOU OF YOUR WEAK STEAMBOT SHELL. YOU ARE ALREADY MORE PART OF US THAN YOU ARE YOURSELF. *BZZT* WE WILL BE INVINCIBLE! THE VOLTBOT WILL RISE AND RULE.'

2013 August 7, Image & Form, SteamWorld Dig, level/area: Vectron:

automatic system, computer program or machine


-ion

Reanalysed from -ation, -tion, from Middle French -tion, -cion, from Latin -tiō. By surface analysis, this suffix is added to verbs derived from Latin perfect participle stems.

transfixion

reaction

(non-productive) An action or process, or the result of an action or process.

indirection

bisection


-ion

Possibly reanalysed from inion, which is of Ancient Greek origin. In many cases also analysable as the neuter form of an Ancient Greek adjective in -ιος (-ios).

dactylion

gnathion

A anthropometric reference point.
Especially craniometric points


-ion

From Ancient Greek ἀπόγειον (apógeion, “apogee”), containing -ιον (-ion). Compare also -ium.

periareion

Together with apo- and peri-, forms names of specific apoapsides and periapsides.


-faction

Borrowed from French -faction, from Latin -factiō. This is the ending that arises when forming action nouns using -tiō (equivalent to English -tion) from compound verbs ending in -faciō (“to make, to do”), which carry a causative meaning. For example, liqueō (“to be liquid”) + faciō > liquefaciō (“to make (something) liquid”) > liquefactiō > English liquefaction.
The suffix was later applied to other Latin stems where no Latin verb in -faciō existed (e.g. lubrifaction) and, eventually, even more freely (but see usage notes).
Compare -ification.

lith- (“stone”) + -i- + -faction → lithifaction (“the compaction and cementation of sediment into rock”)

aer- (“air”) + -i- + -faction → aerifaction (“aeration, hyperinflation of the lungs”)

The act of creating something, or (more broadly) any process involving the specified thing.


B

From abbreviations of various terms beginning with or containing the letter ‘B’.
* (billion): abbreviation of billion
* (cricket): abbreviation of balls
* (bitch): abbreviation of bitch

(stenoscript) A suffix ending in -ble, optionally with a preceding vowel (-ible, -able).


-stan

From Classical Persian ـستان (-istān), from Middle Persian -stʾn' (-estān), from Old Persian 𐎿𐎫𐎠𐎴 (s-t-a-n /stāna/), from Proto-Iranian *stáHnam, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *stʰáHnam, from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand”). Compare Avestan 𐬯𐬙𐬁𐬥𐬀 (stāna), Sanskrit स्थान (sthā́na), Russian стан (stan) (< Proto-Slavic *stanъ), Armenian -ստան (-stan), English stay, stand, state, stead (from Latin status).

Used in the names of regions in the Middle East and Central Asia which were historically influenced by Persian and Turkic cultures.

absurd + -i- + -stan → Absurdistan

nerd + -i- + -stan → nerdistan

(often humorous) Used to form fictitious or metaphoric country names, often with a connotation of it being an exotic or hostile country.

London + -i- + -stan → Londonistan

Dearborn + -i- + -stan → Dearbornistan

Sweden + -i- + -stan → Swedistan

Middle Easterner
Middle Easterner#English

(derogatory, ethnic slur) Used after European and American place names to emphasize that many Middle Easterners or Muslims reside there.

-स्तान

connected with diacritic -i- after consonants


-dan

(pharmacology) Used to form names of pimobendan derivatives used as cardiac stimulants.


-ation

Inherited from Middle English -acioun, -acion, from Old French -acion, -ation, from Latin -ātiō, an alternative form of -tiō (whence -tion). Equivalent to -ate + -ion.

sediment + -ation → sedimentation

found + -ation → foundation

color + -ation → coloration


-ton

From Middle English -ton, -tone, -tune, from Old English -tūn, derived from Old English tūn (“town”). Doublet of town.

Washington

Place-name suffix, originally denoting a town or enclosure of buildings.

singleton

(mathematics, bridge) A set of specific objects or persons.


-urgy

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἔργον (érgon, “work”).


-rama

A libfix, a modification of -orama, influenced by diorama and panorama, and thus indirectly derived from Ancient Greek ὅρᾱμᾰ (hórāmă, “sight, spectacle”).

camera → camerarama or

future → futurama (formed by eliding the e and merging the two rs into one)

Alteration of -orama, used in suffixing a word ending with an r or vowel sound.

a kind of voting session in the US Senate


-orama

Back-formation from panorama and cyclorama (which are modern coinages, not Greek words), and thus from Ancient Greek ὅρᾱμᾰ (hórāmă, “sight”, “spectacle”), in turn evolved from the Proto-Indo-European *wer-, meaning to perceive or look out for.

Used to form, from one noun, a second meaning "wide view of" the first, or (with ironic reference to the preceding sense) "surfeit of", "overattention to", or "exaggerated praise of" the first.


-cade

Back-formed from cavalcade, inferred to be a suffix


-morph

From Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ, “form, shape”).


-person

sportsperson

spokesperson

Someone who is employed or holds a position in an area.

superperson

Someone who has special characteristics relating to a topic or area.

Norseperson

I see a Scotsperson who will invent a voice machine that will enable a person far, far away to wake another in the dead of night to ask, “Is this the Couchiching Inn?”

2001, Jim Foster, Still Complaining, →ISBN, page 31:

(nonstandard) Someone of a particular nationality. (More often, the separate noun "person" is used, e.g. "Norse person".)


-burger

Rebracketing of hamburger, as if it were ham + burger.

-burger

suffix used to make names for hamburger-like dishes

Used to make the names of hamburgers served in buns with the addition of the specified foodstuff, or with that foodstuff used in place of the usual meat.

Let's start with Harden's 60-burger against Atlanta: His 24 shot attempts were the fewest ever in a 60-point game in NBA history.

2019 December 3, Kirk Goldsberry, James Harden is the greatest scorer of this NBA era, ESPN:

(US, sports) Used to emphasise a high number of points scored by a player or team.


-morphic

From Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ, “form, shape”) + -ic, equivalent to -morph + -ic.


-morphism

From Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ, “form, shape”) + -ism, equivalent to -morph + -ism.

af

The state of having a specified shape or form.


-ome

Alteration of -oma, from Ancient Greek -ωμα (-ōma).
Only partially cognate to -some (“body”), from σῶμα (sôma, “body”), in that both share the case ending -μα (-ma), but the ω is unrelated.


-ome

Back-formation from mitome, reinforced by chromosome. Early examples include biome (1916) and genome, from German Genom (1920). Some association with genetics due to occurrence in chromosome and genome.

(biology) The complete whole of a class of substances for a species or an individual.


-z

Boyz are always trouble.

Oh hai. In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh skiez An da Urfs (Gen 1:1, LOLcat Bible)

(urban slang, lolspeak, leetspeak) Used as a substitute for -s in marking the plural of nouns. Usually used in words in which the -s suffix is actually pronounced /z/.

He lovez me.

(urban slang) Used as a substitute for -s in marking verb inflections.


-z

Rhotacism of /ɹ/. Attested since at least 1987.

Barry + -z → Baz

Sharon + -z → Shaz

Jeremy + -z → Jez

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) Forms nicknames, especially of personal names.

sorry + -z → soz

tomorrow + -z → tomoz

apparently + -z → appaz

(UK) Forms colloquial variants of words.


-leptic

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame--leptic.wav

From Ancient Greek λῆψις (lêpsis, “taking hold, seizing”) + -ic, as in Ancient Greek ληπτικός (lēptikós).

der

Of or relating to a condition of seizing, as in nympholeptic.

-leptisch

of or relating to a condition of seizing

A person who is afflicted with a condition prone to cause violent seizures, as in epileptic.

coordination compound
coordination compound

(chemistry) Describing a coordination compound having some type(s) of ligand.


-scopy

From Ancient Greek σκοπέω (skopéō, “to see”).


-x

I teach all of the 30x classes. (referring to classes numbered 301, 302, 303, etc)

Used to represent a value that may vary: see x.


-x

The letter x is prototypically pronounced [ks] in English; it therefore serves as a convenient shorthand for the digraphs (cs, ks, etc.) or trigraphs (cks etc.) that would otherwise represent that consonant cluster.

blax (“blacks”), clox (“clocks”), fax (“facts”), folx (“folks”), hax (“hacks”), pix (“pics”), punx (“punks”), snax (“snacks”), sox (“socks”), stix (“sticks”), tix (“tickets”), trax (“tracks”)

(chiefly US, informal) Used to replace a /ks/ sound, especially in monosyllabic words ending in -cks or -ks.


-x

Dx (“diagnosis”), elex (“election”), Hx (“history”), pax (“passenger”), RX (“receive”), TX (“transmit”)


-x

From the use of x as a neutral or nonspecific placeholder.

(neologism) Used to replace a gendered suffix, such as in alumnx, Chicanx, Latinx.


-form

From Latin -fōrmis (“having the form of”), from fōrma (“a form, contour, figure, shape, appearance, looks”).

vermiform (“shaped like a worm”)

Having the shape or form of; looking like.

-ass

looking like; restricted to casual registers

-like

looking like; forms adjectives from nouns only


-form

From formic, from Latin formica (“ant”).

chloroform


-gram

From Ancient Greek suffix -γραμμα (-gramma), from γράμμα (grámma, “written character, letter, that which is drawn”), from γράφω (gráphō, “to scratch, to scrape, to graze”).

Something written, drawn or otherwise recorded.

meteogram

a time cross-section producing and using data for a specific weather station on the ground

n-gram

a type of probabilistic model for predicting the next item in a sequence


-ide

Generalized in the early 19th c. from oxide (which has its ending from French acide, itself from Latin -idus in acidus), and gradually displaced earlier -uret, both introduced in the English translation of de Morveau, Lavoisier et al.'s 1787 book Méthode de nomenclature chimique.

Any of a group of related compounds - azide, polysaccharide, glycoside.

A binary compound - bromide, arsenide, palladide.

Any of a group of several elements - lanthanide.


-crat

From Ancient Greek κράτος (krátos, “power, might”), modelled after words of Ancient Greek origin such as democrat and aristocrat. From Proto-Indo-European *kret- (English hard).

bor

A participant in a specified form of government.

An advocate of a specified form of government.


-tropic

Borrowed from Ancient Greek τροπικός (tropikós, “of or pertaining to a turn or change; or the solstice; or a trope or figure; tropic; tropical; etc.”), from τροπή (tropḗ, “turn; solstice; trope”). Compare trope and tropic.

psycho- (“mind”) + -tropic (“altering”) → psychotropic (“mind-altering”)

(sciences) Affecting or attracted to the thing specified.

-trópach

affecting or attracted to the thing specified


-oma

From Ancient Greek -ωμα (-ōma), from verbs in -όω (-óō) + -μα (-ma) (from Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥), which lengthens a preceding vowel.

(pathology) Forming nouns indicating disease or morbidity.

-oom

suffix forming nouns indicating disease or morbidity

(pathology, specifically) Forming nouns indicating tumors or masses, which may be non-neoplastic or (more often) neoplastic, and (if the latter) either benign or cancerous (malignant); in accord with present-day understanding of histopathology, the suffix is now nonproductive for non-neoplastic senses.

-oma

suffix forming nouns indicating tumors or masses


-st

Thou com'st to use thy tongue.

c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v]:

second-person singular
second-person singular

(archaic) Verb suffix for the second-person singular; Alternative form of -est


-st

From the written form of first; see further etymology there.

the 21st century

Marks ordinals written in digits when the final term of the spelled number is "first"


-st

From -s + -t of excrescent suffixes, with -s sometimes genitive.

among + -st → amongst

mid + -st → midst

while + -st → whilst

Excrescent suffix (adding sound but largely not changing the meaning).


-lysis

From Ancient Greek λύσις (lúsis, “a loosening”); compare lysis.


-tide

From Middle English -tide, -tyde, from Old English -tīd (in compounds), from tīd (“point or portion of time, due time, period, season; feast-day, canonical hour”); see tide.

Time, period (especially around an event or festival), season; often added to a festival name to indicate the period around that festival or a season beginning or ending with it.


-tide

(pharmacology) Used to form names of peptides and glycopeptides.


-ware

From Middle English ware, from Old English waru, from Proto-West Germanic *waru, from Proto-Germanic *warō, with meaning gradually shifting from guard, protection to an object that is in possession, hence meriting attention, guarded, cared for, and protected.

glass + -ware → glassware

Used to form nouns denoting, collectively, items made from a particular substance.

-esineet

denoting items made from a particular substance

Abruzzi + ware + -ware → Abruzzi ware

Used to form nouns denoting, collectively, items made in a particular place.

gift + -ware → giftware

Used to form nouns denoting, collectively, items of a particular kind or for a particular use.

-esineet

denoting items of a particular kind or for a particular use


-ware

From software. See also ware and warehouse.

(computing) Used to form mass nouns denoting specific classes of computer software, based on use, function, or method of distribution.


-wear

worn by a particular sex (e.g., menswear, womenswear) or age of person (e.g., kidswear).

worn on a particular part of the body (e.g., neckwear).

Used to form nouns denoting clothing:
for a particular use (e.g., daywear).

made in a particular way (e.g., knitwear) or (redundantly) of a particular kind (e.g., shoewear).


-escent

From Latin -ēscēns, present participle of -ēscō (“I become”).


-cyte

From Latin cyta, from Ancient Greek κύτος (kútos, “vessel, jar”). Compare cyte.

Used to form cell names and classifications for mature cells.


-metric

/ˈmɛ.t͡ʃɹɪk/

Borrowed from French -métrique, from Latin metricus.

Forming adjectives corresponding to nouns in -meter.


-sol

(soil science) Forming the names of different kinds of soil.


-graphical

Used to form adjectives meaning of or relating to corresponding nouns ending in -graphy or -graph.


-lite

Representing Ancient Greek λίθος (líthos, “stone”).

Used to form the names of rocks and minerals.


-ista

From Spanish -ista in "Sandinista" (1930s).

fashion + -ista → fashionista

Marx + -ista → Marxista

Lincoln + -ista → Lincolnista

Forms nouns denoting one who follows a principle; an adept.


-vorous

forming adjectives with the sense of ‘habitually eating, feeding on’


-ite

From French -ite, from Old French, from Latin -ītēs, from Ancient Greek -ῑ́της (-ī́tēs).

-iet

used to form names of minerals and rocks

-lainen

a native or resident of a specified place

Adamsite, Campbellite, Jacobite, laborite, Mansonite, Reaganite, Thatcherite

(sometimes derogatory) Used to form nouns denoting followers or adherents of a specified person, idea, doctrine, movement, etc.

-lainen

a follower or adherent of a specified person

Cainite, Ephraimite, Hamite, Japhetite, Lamanite

There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God.

1830, Joseph Smith, Book of Mormon, translation of original by Mormon, 4 Nephi 1:17:

Used to form nouns denoting descendants of a specified historical person, especially a biblical figure.

-lainen

a descendant of a specified historical person

Brooklynite, Delhiite, Jerusalemite, Keralite, New Jerseyite, Seattleite, Seoulite, Sydneyite, Wisconsinite, Wyomingite; also see ashramite, hostelite

(chiefly US, India) Used to form demonyms.

andalusite, anorthosite, anthracite, erythrite, forsterite, graphite, hawleyite, titanite

Used to form nouns denoting rocks or minerals.

ammonite, belemnite

Used to form nouns denoting fossil organisms.

dendrite, somite

(biology) Used to form nouns denoting segments or components of the body or an organ of the body.

-iitti

part of the body or part of an organ of the body

Bakelite, cordite, dynamite, ebonite, metabolite, vulcanite

Used to form nouns denoting the product of a specified process or a commercially manufactured product.

bromite, chlorite, iodite, phosphite, sulfite

chemical compound
chemical compound#English

(chemistry) Used to form names of certain chemical compounds, especially salts or esters of acids whose name ends in -ous.

-it

a salt or ester of an acid whose name ends in -ous


-ite

From Latin past participles in -ītus, of verbs in -īre, -ĕre, -ēre, partly via Old French.


-ate

(Early 15th century) Borrowed from Latin -ātus, perfect passive participle ending of first conjugation verbs and forming participial adjectives from nouns. Before a suffix, introduced in Middle English, participial adjectives borrowed from such Latin participles were written with final -at (Middle English desolat for modern desolate) and could be used as past participle of verbs in -aten (see Etymology 2), see generate or communicate for remnants of it. See also content, complete, sparse; adjectives of participial origin, from Latin. Doublet of -ee and cognate with English -ed.

lobate — “having lobes, lobed”

forms adjectives with meaning "having the specified thing"

Italianate — “characterized by Italian features”

forms adjectives with meaning "characterized by the specified thing"

palmate — “resembling the palm”

forms adjectives with meaning "resembling the specified thing"


-ate

See Etymology 1. In Middle English, verbs were derived from Latin-borrowed participial adjectives and written with final -aten (see -en) (Middle English desolaten for modern desolate). In the 15th century, the loss of most verbal morphology in English made verbs formally identical to adjectives; this led to numerous adjectives in -ate, originally borrowed from the perfect passive participle of first conjugation Latin verbs being used as verbs (as well as the heteronymy of former Middle English verbs with their corresponding participles), and, in the late 16th century, the systematic borrowing of such Latin participles as English verbs. The sheer number of newly borrowed verbs from Latin ending in -ate later gave rise to -ate's productivity as a verbal suffix.
further etymology
The same process also led to the systematic borrowing of Latin perfect passive participle of other kinds as English verbs. See dissect, delete, erase, applause (when older applaud) and exhaust: all verbs borrowed from Latin participial stems of diverse conjugation groups. Compare also Basque -tu for similar development.

hide box

The same process also led to the systematic borrowing of Latin perfect passive participle of other kinds as English verbs. See dissect, delete, erase, applause (when older applaud) and exhaust: all verbs borrowed from Latin participial stems of diverse conjugation groups. Compare also Basque <i class="Latn mention" lang="eu">-tu</i> for similar development.

formulate ← fōrmula

masturbate ← masturbor

phonate ← φωνή (phōnḗ)

lexical categories
lexical category#English

derives verbs (mostly) from Latin stems of various lexical categories


-ate

From the substantivation of past participles from first conjugation Latin verbs; see Etymology 1. It grew to popularity after its morphological revival in French during the 14th century, where past participle-inherited substantives began to be Latinized (see French avoué and its re-Latinized version, avocat. Compare also English advocate with further re-Latinization). The older -é (avoué, employé) gave English -ee (employee).

affiliate — “a person having been affiliated, affiliated”

graduate — “a person having graduated, graduated”

(rare) forms nouns meaning "person or thing that is the object or subject of that performed verb"

articulate — “An animal of the subkingdom Articulata”

(biology) forms nouns meaning "specimen of a corresponding taxon ending in -ata"


-ate

From the substantivation of past participles from first conjugation Latin verbs; see Etymology 1. Used so to denote a product having been subjected to the said chemical and thus derived by it (e.g. plumbum acētātum (“acetated lead”) → acetate (“an acetated product; a salt or ester of acetic acid”)).

acetate — “a salt or ester of acetic acid”

(chemistry) forms derivatives of specified elements or compounds; especially salts or esters of an acid whose name ends in -ic


-ate

From the Latin abstract-noun-forming suffix -ātus, -ātūs.

emirate — “the office of an emir”

emirate — “the realm of an emir”

forms nouns denoting the concrete charge, context of a rank or office

triumvirate — “an official group of three men, triumvirs”

forms nouns denoting a group of officials associated with a rank or office

patriarchate — “a social system in which heads of household (patriarchs) hold the power”

forms nouns denoting a social or political system ruled by people or someone of a certain rank or office

emirate — “a state ruled by an emir”

forms nouns denoting a state (government) ruled by people or someone of a certain rank or office

celibate — “the state of being a bachelor, celibacy”

forms nouns denoting a state associated with one's social situation


-ling

From Middle English -ling, from Old English -ling, from Proto-West Germanic *-ling, from Proto-Germanic *-lingaz, a nominal suffix, probably composed of Proto-Germanic *-ilaz (agent/instrumental/diminutive suffix) + Proto-Germanic *-ingaz (patronymic suffix).
Akin to Dutch -ling, German -ling, Icelandic -lingur, Gothic -𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍃 (-liggs). More at -le, -ing.


-ling

From Middle English -ling, from Old English -ling, -linga, -lunga (adverbial suffix). Compare -long.

(non-productive) An adverbial suffix denoting manner, direction or position.


-ienne

Borrowed from French -ienne, feminine of -ien (“-ian”).

indicates a female variant of a noun ending in -ian


-safe

2000 September 6, Hadley Stern and David Lehn, Death of the Websafe Color Palette?, Webmonkey
But it's been more than three years since Lynda Weinman assembled her "browser safe palette" for Photoshop

2005, Planet Innovation, website
attempting to compile a complete list of the most people-safe products


-dom

From Middle English -dom, from Old English -dōm (“-dom: state, condition, power, authority, property, right, office, quality”, suffix), from Proto-West Germanic *-dōm, from Proto-Germanic *-dōmaz.
Cognate with Scots -dom (“-dom”), North Frisian -dom (“-dom”), West Frisian -dom (“-dom”), Dutch -dom (“-dom”), Low German -dom (“-dom”), German -tum (“-dom”), Danish -dom (“-dom”) -dømme (“-dom”), Swedish -dom (“-dom”) -döme (“-dom”), Norwegian -dom (“-dom”), Icelandic -dómur (“-dom”), Norwegian Bokmål -dømme, Norwegian Nynorsk -døme. Same as Old English dōm (“doom, judgment, sentence, condemnation, ordeal, judicial sentence, decree, ordinance, law, custom; justice, equity; direction, ruling, governing, command; might, power, supremacy, majesty, glory, magnificence, splendor, reputation, honor, praise, dignity, authority; state, condition”). No relation to English domain or dominion. More at doom.

cog

boredom, freedom, martyrdom, stardom

Forming nouns denoting the condition or state of the suffixed word.

Christendom, fiefdom, kingdom, Saxondom

Forming nouns denoting the domain or jurisdiction of the suffixed word.

catdom, dogdom, furrydom, gothdom, wingdom

It is only the English language that has let the cabbage down – giving it, quite frankly, the ugliest name in all of veg-dom.

2011 March 19, Caitlin Moran, The Times:

there always seemed to be one outrageous beauty: an angel who would have been forced into indentured topmodeldom had she been found on a Paris bus; or a wavy-lipped, chisel-chinned, almond-eyed boy-warrior out of the Iliad, as beautiful as humans come.

1995, Isabel Fonseca, Bury Me Standing, Vintage, published 2007, page 74:

Forming nouns — usually nonce words — denoting the set of all examples of the suffixed word.

Potterdom, stfdom

(fandom slang) Forming nouns denoting the fandom of the suffixed word.


-drome

From Ancient Greek δρόμος (drómos, “running; racetrack”).

der

(literary) Forms placenames related to racetracks (now especially large covered racetracks) or similar structures.


-genic

Borrowed either from French -gène or directly from its etymological source, Ancient Greek -γενής (-genḗs, “offspring; kind”), with -ic. Compare -gen.

bor

carcinogenic ― tending to cause cancer

bacteriogenic ― caused by bacteria

telegenic ― attractive to television viewers


-ol

(organic chemistry) An alcohol or phenol.


-ol

From Latin oleum (“oil, olive oil”), from Ancient Greek ἔλαιον (élaion, “olive oil”).


-esque

From French -esque (“-ish, -ic, -esque”), from Italian -esco, from Latin -iscus, of Germanic origin, from Lombardic -isc (“-ish”), from Proto-West Germanic *-isk, from Proto-Germanic *-iskaz (“-ish”), from Proto-Indo-European *-iskos.
Cognate with Old High German -isc (German -isch), Old English -isċ, Old Norse -iskr, Gothic -𐌹𐍃𐌺𐍃 (-isks). Doublet of -ish and -ski.

Kafkaesque

When the album succeeds, such as on the swaggering, Queen-esque “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us,” it does so on The Darkness’ own terms—that is, as a random ’80s-cliché generator. But with so many tired, lazy callbacks to its own threadbare catalog (including “Love Is Not The Answer,” a watery echo of the epic “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” from 2003’s Permission To Land), Hot Cakes marks the point where The Darkness has stopped cannibalizing the golden age of stadium rock and simply started cannibalizing itself. And, despite Hawkins’ inveterate crotch-grabbing, there was never that much meat there to begin with.

2012 August 21, Jason Heller, “The Darkness: Hot Cakes (Music Review)”, in The Onion AV Club:

In the style or manner of; appended to nouns, especially proper nouns, and forming adjectives.

Needless to say, Mr. T abstained from the "Wolf of Wall Street"-esque extracurriculars on grounds that he didn't agree with Cubik Partners' definition of "fun," per his testimony in court.

2022 November 25, B. Cost, “Man wins legal right to be 'boring' at work, gets $3K from company”, in New York Post, NYP Holdings, retrieved 2022-11-27:

Resembling; appended to nouns, especially proper nouns, and forming adjectives.

-ass

resembling; restricted to casual registers

-like

resembling; forms adjectives from nouns only


-archy

From Latin -archia, from Ancient Greek -αρχίᾱ (-arkhíā), from ἀρχή (arkhḗ, “rule, government”).


-arian

Back-formation from various words ending in “arian”, some directly derived from Classical or Medieval Latin words ending in -arius by adding -an to the stem, other indirectly via Old French words ending in "arien(ne)" or "erien(ne)" or from English words ending in “ary” to which -an was suffixed; note the same phenomenon in -ary. Equivalent to -ary + -an.

(uncommon) A native or inhabitant of somewhere.


-ster

From Middle English -estere, -ester, from Old English -estre (“-ster”, feminine agent suffix), from Proto-West Germanic *-astrijā, of disputed origin. Cognate with Middle Low German -ester, Dutch -ster.

inh

Someone who is, or who is associated with, or who does something specified.

1992, Russell Baker, "Observer; Pretty Good Read" (review of What It Takes by Richard Ben Cramer), New York Times, 25 Jul.,
Cramer's exploration of the hearts, minds and souls of America's ambition-crazed Presidential candidates moves ahead at a pace that feels childishly frantic . . . . This is not just because it keeps referring to Senator Robert Dole as "the Bobster."

“Never better,” the Raabster spat back. “Just get on with it. What’s the score?”

2023 April 21, John Crace, “Psycho goes down raging: the liberal wokerati finally get to Raab”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(humorous, sometimes offensive) A diminutive appended to a person's name.


-ane

From Latin -ānus, which forms adjectives from nouns with the sense of "belonging to" or "origin from". Doublet of English -an.

Variant of -an, usually with differentiation (germane, humane, urbane), but sometimes alone (mundane).

-an

(organic chemistry) A saturated hydrocarbon; an alkane.

(inorganic chemistry) A simple binary compound of hydrogen and a nonmetal or metalloid.

-án

compounds of hydrogen and a nonmetal or metalloid


-ene

From Latin -ēnus, from Ancient Greek -ηνός (-ēnós), forming adjectives from place names.

Cairo + -ene → Cairene

Damascus + -ene → Damascene

Forms adjectives relating to places and nouns for their inhabitants.

Rogers + -ene → Rogerene

Hagar + -ene → Hagarene

Forms adjectives and nouns denoting religious groups from personal names.


-ene

Borrowed from French -ène, chosen by French chemist Jean-Baptiste Dumas to avoid confusion with chemicals in -ine.

(organic chemistry) An unsaturated hydrocarbon having at least one double bond; an alkene.

(organic chemistry) An aromatic hydrocarbon based on benzene.


-ene

Derived from graphene, expressing its monolayer characteristic

a single-atom thick two-dimensional layer of atoms


-diene

(organic chemistry) An unsaturated hydrocarbon with two double bonds; a diene

(organic chemistry) A polymer of such a diene.


-blast

From Ancient Greek βλαστός (blastós, “germ, sprout”).


-blastic

Having a specified number or type of elements that go on to form other bodies.

Of or relating to an immature cell or tissue.


-carp

From Ancient Greek καρπός (karpós, “fruit, grain”).


-carpic

From -carp + -ic. From Ancient Greek καρπός (karpós, “fruit, grain”).


-carpous

From -carp + -ous. From Ancient Greek καρπός (karpós, “fruit, grain”).

Having a specified number or type of fruit or fruiting bodies or part thereof.


-chore

From Ancient Greek χωρέω (khōréō, “I move, spread”).

An organism that spreads by a specified agent, or in a specified manner.


-genesis

Via Latin, from Ancient Greek γένεσις (génesis). The simplex genesis is in use as a common noun (as opposed to Genesis, the name of the biblical book) since the late 16th century, as a suffix since the mid 17th century (attested in epigenesis and palingenesis). Influenced by French -génésie and German -genese and productive in scientific vocabulary from the 19th century on.


-aceous

From New Latin, from Latin -aceus (“of a certain kind”); related to -ac, -ax, a Latin adjectival suffix.

Of, relating to, resembling or containing the thing suffixed

-aci

of, relating to, or resembling the thing suffixed

Belonging to a taxonomic family or other group

-aci

belonging to a taxonomic family or other group


-ana

From Latin -āna (neuter plural of -ānus).

neuter plural of <i class="Latn mention" lang="la">-ānus</i>

a collection of things that relate to a specific place, person, etc.


-iana

From Latin -āna (neuter plural of -ānus) by analogy with formations ending in -ian (Canadian → Canadiana, Edwardian → Edwardiana).


-geny

Borrowed from Ancient Greek -γένεια (-géneia).


-graphy

From French -graphie, inherited from Latin -graphia, borrowed from Ancient Greek -γραφία (-graphía), from γραφή (graphḗ, “writing, drawing, description”).

Something written or otherwise represented in the specified manner, or about a specified subject.

-grafie

Suffix denoting a written or represented in the specified manner, or about a specified subject


-ization

The Mexica do not sing alabanzas, thus any recent Mexica-ization, or rather Aztecization, of existing alabanzas (or the newly written) is the result of the Concheros' increased interest in the Aztec past and their desire to celebrate it.

2012, Susanna Rostas, Carrying the Word: The Concheros Dance in Mexico City, page 218:

In the view of such officers as Dharsono, the disproportionate number of Siliwangi officers was both a result of, and a protest against, a “de-Siliwangi-ization” process instigated by Suharto.

2010, David Jenkins, Suharto and His Generals: Indonesian Military Politics, 1975-1983, page 201:

The chapter covers the domestic impact of the public policy of the European Union (EU), hence one could use the term 'EU-ization’ in this context.

2003, Kevin Featherstone, Claudio Maria Radaelli, The Politics of Europeanization, page 27:

Forming nouns denoting the act, process, or result of doing something.


-nasty

From Ancient Greek ναστός (nastós, “pressed”), from the verb νάσσω (nássō).


-plasty

From Ancient Greek πλαστός (plastós, “molded, formed”).

(surgery) Repair or restoration of a part or function.

Molding or shaping through a surgical procedure.


-ina

Here are the male spider and the female spider (which shall be named “spiderina” in this article), both of the species of the garden spider. The former is only two-thirds of the size of Miss Spiderina.

1915 May, Wilhelm Boelsche, translated by Rheamars Dredenov, “The Love Adventures of the Spider”, in Charles H[ope] Kerr, editor, The International Socialist Review, volume XV, number 11, Chicago, Ill.: Charles H. Kerr & Company, page 659, column 2:

I HAVE PROBABLY INVENTED THE PROFESSION OF LAWYERINA

2015, Jim Benton, “Thursday 12”, in Live Each Day to the Dumbest (Dear Dumb Diary: Year Two), New York, N.Y.: Scholastic Inc., →ISBN:

Gobta and his attackers turned around to find a goblina staring them down—a fighter, judging by her muddy red hair. […] Hobgoblins of either gender were high-level creatures capable of language, far more intelligent than their goblin relatives.

2017, Fuse, translated by Kevin Gifford, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, volume 1, New York, N.Y.: Yen Press, LLC, →ISBN:

Alternative form of -ine (forming feminine nouns).


-phage

From Latin -phagus, from Ancient Greek φάγος (phágos, “glutton”), from φαγεῖν (phageîn, “to eat”), aorist active infinitive of ἔφαγον (éphagon, “I ate, devoured”).


-philiac

Forming nouns: Someone with a tendency towards something, or an abnormal attraction to something.

Forming adjectives: Relating to a tendency towards something, or an abnormal attraction to something.


-philic

From Ancient Greek φίλος (phílos, “love”) + -ic. By surface analysis, -phile + -ic.


-philous

From Ancient Greek φίλος (phílos, “love”) + -ous.

having an affinity, attraction, preference or love of something


-phyte

From Ancient Greek φυτόν (phutón, “plant”).

arthrophyte, cyanophyte

A member of a taxonomic group of plants or algae, chiefly one whose taxonomic name ends (or ended) in -phyta.

acrophyte

A plant that grows in a specified habitat.

anthophyte, macrophyte

A plant that grows in a specified form or habit.

-fyytti

osteophyte


-ac

From French -acque, from New Latin -acus, from Ancient Greek -ακός (-akós, “-ic”). Related to -ic and -y.


-age

Etymology tree
Proto-Italic *-ātos
Latin -ātus
Proto-Italic *-kos
Latin -cus
Latin -icus
Latin -āticus
Latin -āticum
Old French -agebor.
Middle English -age
English -age
From Middle English -age, from Old French -age, from Latin -āticum. Cognates include French -age, Italian -aggio, Portuguese -agem, Spanish -aje, Occitan -atge, Romanian -aj. Doublet of -atic.

etymon

word + -age → wordage

forming nouns with the sense of collection or appurtenance.

block + -age → blockage

marry + -age → marriage

slip + -age → slippage

shrink + -age → shrinkage

forming nouns indicating a process, action, or a result

bond + -age → bondage

marry + -age → marriage

parent + -age → parentage

line + -age → lineage

forming nouns of a state or relationship

orphan + -age → orphanage

hermit + -age → hermitage

post + -age → postage

broker + -age → brokerage

cork + -age → corkage

forming nouns indicating a charge, toll, or fee

percent + -age → percentage

mile + -age → mileage

volt + -age → voltage

foot + -age → footage

tonne + -age → tonnage

hour + -age → hourage


-agogue

From Ancient Greek ἀγωγός (agōgós, “leading”), from ἄγω (ágō, “I lead”).

der

Something that leads to something else, as:

(biology, medicine) Something that stimulates a flow such as secretion or circulation.


-ance

From Middle English -aunce, -ance, from Anglo-Norman -aunce and continental Old French -ance, from Latin -antia, -entia.

ally + -ance → alliance

perform + -ance → performance

reluctant + -ance → reluctance

Added to an adjective or verb to form a noun indicating a state or condition, such as result or capacity, associated with the verb.

appear + -ance → appearance

resist + -ance → resistance

Added to a verb to form a noun indicating a process or action.


-ancy

From Latin -antia, -entia, with influence from French -ance, French -ancie, Spanish -ancia, etc.

buoyant + -ancy → buoyancy

ascendant + -ancy → ascendancy

expect + -ancy → expectancy

Added to verbs and adjectives to form nouns conveying a condition or quality associated with the verb.


-androus

(botany) having a specified number of stamens


-andry

From three inextricable sources:
* the Ancient Greek -ανδρία (-andría), forming abstract nouns of quality or condition from ἀνήρ (anḗr, “man”, “husband”);
* Ancient Greek ἀνδρ- (andr-) (andr-: the stem of ἀνήρ (anḗr)) + English -y (suffix forming abstract nouns of quality or condition); and,
* the -andry element of polyandry. First attested in 1680.

mono- + -andry → monandry [1855]

polygyny + -andry → polygynandry [1962]

pseudo- + -andry → pseudandry [1868]

mis- + -andry → misandry [1898]

protero- + -andry → proterandry [1922]

proto- + -andry → protandry [1870]

syn- + -andry → synandry [1900]

male reproductive organ(s); (especially in botany): stamen(s)


-ant

From Middle English -ant, -aunt, partly from Old French -ant, from Latin -āns; and partly (in adjectival derivations) continuing Middle English -ant, a variant of -and, -end, from Old English -ende (present participle ending), see -and.

inh

serve → servant

(now sciences, chiefly medicine) The agent noun derived from verb.

An adjective corresponding to a noun in -ance, having the sense of "exhibiting (the condition or process described by the noun)".

ascend → ascendant

err → errant.

An adjective derived from a verb, having the senses of: (a) "doing (the verbal action)", and/or (b) "prone/tending to do (the verbal action)".

blatant, blicant; flippant, old-farrant


-ard

From Middle English -ard, from Old French -ard (suffix), from Frankish *-hard (“hardy, bold”), from Proto-Germanic *harduz (“hard”). Cognate with Middle High German -hart. More at hard.

drunk + -ard → drunkard

dull + -ard → dullard

wise + -ard → wizard

Someone who is in a specified condition (“pejorative agent suffix”).


-arium

A place associated with a specified thing.

-árium

a place associated with a specified thing

A device associated with a specified function.

-árium

a device associated with a specified function


-ative

of, related to, or associated with the thing specified


-ator

Borrowed from Latin -ātor or -ate + -or.

used to form agent nouns, usually from verbs that have the ending -ate


-atory

forms adjectives of, relating to, or connected with the thing specified

forms nouns that represent things or places where a specified activity takes place


-biont

Probably from German, modification of Ancient Greek βῐούντ- (bĭoúnt-), βιῶν (biôn, “living”), present participle of βῐοῦν (bĭoûn, “to live”), from βῐ́ος (bĭ́os, “mode of life”).

(biology) a discrete living organism that has a specified mode of living


-biosis

By back-formation from the earliest relevant terms such as symbiosis (which see).


-caine

From German -kain, extracted from the word Kokain (“cocaine”), because cocaine was formerly used as a local anaesthetic.

(organic chemistry, pharmacology) A synthetic alkaloid used as a local anesthetic.

-caïne

a synthetic alkaloid used as a local anesthetic


-cele

From Ancient Greek κήλη (kḗlē, “tumour”; especially “hernia”) (cognate to Serbo-Croatian кила (“hernia”)).


-cele

(possibly nonstandard) Alternative form of -coel (“cavity”)


-cene

From Cenozoic. From Ancient Greek καινός (kainós, “new”).

(geology) Related to the geologic era called the Cenozoic, the current one.


-centric

Representing a combining form of Ancient Greek κεντρικός (kentrikós, “central”). Cognate with Bengali -কেন্দ্রিক (-kendrik)

When the staccato, Neptunes-ian single “Boyfriend” was released in March, musical prognosticators were quick to peg the album it portended, Believe, as Justin Bieber’s Justified, a grown-and-sexy, R&B-centric departure that evolved millennial teenybopper Justin Timberlake into one of the unifying pop-music figures of the aughts.

2012 June 26, Genevieve Koski, “Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2020-08-06:

Decades of road-centric planning and policies have tilted the playing field strongly against public transport use.

2021 November 17, Anthony Lambert, “How do we grow the leisure market?”, in RAIL, number 944, page 34:

Having a specified object at the centre, or as the focus of attention.


-cephaly

From French -céphalie, German -zephalie, or Latin -cephalia, from Ancient Greek κεφαλή (kephalḗ, “head”) and a suffix: French -ie, German -ie, or Latin -ia.


-clinal

From Ancient Greek κλίνω (klínō, “to lean”). Cognate with Latin clīnō.


-clinic

(of a crystal etc) having a specified number of oblique axial intersections


-coccus

From New Latin coccus, from Latin coccum, from Ancient Greek κόκκος (kókkos, “grain, seed”).


-coel

Via Latin, from Ancient Greek κοῖλος (koîlos, “hollow”).


-coel

(possibly nonstandard) Alternative form of -cele (“tumor; hernia”)


-colous

From Latin -cola (“inhabitor”) + -ous. By surface analysis, -cole + -ous.


-derm

From Ancient Greek δέρμα (dérma, “skin”).


-dermatous

From Ancient Greek δέρμα (dérma, “skin”), genitive δέρματος (dérmatos) + -ous.


-dromous

From Ancient Greek δρόμος (drómos, “race, running”) + -ous.


-eer

From Middle French -ier. Doublet of -ary and -yer.

Used to create an agent noun denoting someone associated with, concerned with, or engaged in a specified activity.


-ferous

nectar + -i- (“producing nectar”) + -ferous → nectariferous

Used to form adjectives from nouns, producing the specified material

nickel + -i- (“containing nickel”) + -ferous → nickeliferous

cadmium + -i- (“containing cadmium”) + -ferous → cadmiferous

Used to form adjectives from nouns, containing the specified material


-gnathous

From Ancient Greek γνάθος (gnáthos) + -ous.

(biology) having a specified type of jaw


-el

From Middle English -el, from Old English -el, from Proto-Germanic *-ilaz.

runnel, shovel, dotel

Suffix forming nouns, originally denoting an instrument, from verbs, usually spelt -le except after n and e.

hatchel, hovel, gomeral

Diminutive suffix in words of Germanic origin.


-el

From Middle English -el, a merger of two suffixes:
* Old English -el (diminutive suffix)
* Old French -el (diminutive suffix), from Latin -ellus

cupel, chapel, tunnel

Suffix, originally diminutive, in words of mostly Romance origin.


-es

From Middle English -es, from Old English -as. More at -s.

Used to form the regular plural of nouns that end in a sibilant (/s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /t͡s/, /d͡z/, /t͡ʃ/ or /d͡ʒ/), such as:

(t)ch, when pronounced as /tʃ/: glitch→glitches (but psych→psychs)

(j)j: hajj→hajjes (j is only final in loan words raj, hajj)

lady→ladies, soliloquy→soliloquies (but key→keys)

Used to form the regular plural of nouns that end in a consonant (or qu) + y:

tomato→tomatoes (but soprano→sopranos)

Used for form the plural of some nouns that end in a consonant + o:


-es

From Middle English -es, -is, from Old English -es, -as, Northern variants of -est, -ast (second person singular indicative ending). Replaced Middle English -eth, from Old English -eþ, -aþ. The falling together of the second and third person singular verb forms in Old English is believed to be due to Scandinavian influence, where the employment of the same verbal endings for both 2nd and 3rd singular indicative follows a similar pattern to that seen in Old Norse (e.g. þú masar, hann masar; þú þekkir, hann þekkir; etc.).

Used to form the third person singular present indicative of regular verbs:

that end in (t)ch pronounced as /tʃ/: impeach→impeaches (but psych→psychs)

that end in consonant + o in some cases: go→goes (but radio→radios)

that end in consonant (or qu) + y: cry→cries (but buy→buys)


-es

... whereupon king Henry his sonne, as it may appeare by the later clause of this chapter, recouered diuers eschet[s] of lande within this Realme holden by Normans, whiche after they began to adhere to the French king, the kinges enimy[…]

1573, An exposition of the kinges prerogative, collected out of the great Abridgement of Justice Fitzherbert and other olde writers of the lawes of England, page 38:

(obsolete, no longer productive) Possessive marker; see -s, -'s.


-enchyma

From Ancient Greek ἔγχυμα (énkhuma, “infusion”).


-ergic

(chiefly biochemistry) Produced or activated by (the specified thing).


-escence

From Latin -escens, form of -ēscō (“I become”).

A process of becoming (growing or increasing in the trait specified by the prefixed stem).


-grapher

From Ancient Greek γράφω (gráphō, “I draw, write or describe”) + -er.

der

someone who writes about a specified subject, or in a specified manner

-grafu

a machine which notates a specified subject


-gyny

From Ancient Greek γυνή (gunḗ, “woman, female”).

derived

the state of having a specific number of wives

(botany) a situation with respect to female plant organs

(botany) having a specified number or type of female plant organs


-ive

From Middle English -yf, from Anglo-Norman -if from Latin -īvus. Until the fourteenth century, all Middle English loanwords from Anglo-Norman ended in -if (compare actif, natif, sensitif, pensif etc.). Under the influence of literary Neo-Latin, both languages introduced the form -ive. Those forms that have not been replaced were subsequently changed to end in -y (compare hasty, from hastif, jolly, from jolif etc.).
Like the Latin suffix -iō (genitive -iōnis), the Latin suffix -ivus is appended to the perfect passive participle to form an adjective of action.

An adjective suffix signifying relating or belonging to, of the nature of, tending to, or serving to; as: affirmative, active, conclusive, corrective, diminutive.

-ief

adjectival suffix: of the nature of; tending to


-inda

Latinized form of Germanic name suffix -lind, -linde (“tender, soft”), such as Sieglinde and Dietlinde, from Proto-Germanic *linþiz (“gentle, mild”) (English lithe). Found in names such as Old High German Irmilinda and Old Dutch Frithelind. See lind, Linda.


-ence

From Middle English -ence, from Old French -ence, from Latin -entia. Compare Old English -ende, -endu (“-ing, -ence”).

dependence

compellence

(chiefly non-productive) Same as -ance; having the state or condition of.

-ensie

same as -ance; having the state or condition of


-nd

2nd grade; 42nd Street

Marks ordinals written in digits when the final term of the spelled number is "second"


-rd

We're on 23rd Street.

Lupin the IIIrd is my fav Japanese manga series.

Marks ordinals written in digits when the final term of the spelled number is "third"


-pod

From Ancient Greek ποδός (podós), genitive singular of πούς (poús, “foot, leg”).

Related to or resembling a foot or similar limb.


-ismus

Most common in the function of denoting conditions, particularly spasmodic ones (also spasms caused by such a condition).


-poiesis

Suffixed form of poiesis, from Ancient Greek ποίησις (poíēsis), from ποιέω (poiéō, “to make”).


-'d

Mine eye hath play'd the painter and hath steeld

1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 24”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:

But when the train came near to Wormit Bay,
Boreas he did loud and angry bray,
And shook the central girders of the Bridge of Tay
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.

1880, William Topaz McGonagall, The Tay Bridge Disaster:

Google Plus - You +1'd this.

I just lol'd but then stopped and realized this wasn't funny.

That guy just got KO'd!

The eval function also compromises the security of your application, because it grants too much authority to the eval'd text.

2008, Douglas Crockford, JavaScript: The Good Parts:

Sometimes used to form the past tense of some awkward verbs that are in the form of numerals, letters, and abbreviations, especially in online communication. Compare -’s.


-ock

From Middle English -ock, -ok, -uk, -uck, from Old English -oc, -uc (diminutive suffix), from Proto-West Germanic *-uk, from Proto-Germanic *-ukaz (diminutive suffix).
Akin to Old Saxon -ik (diminutive suffix), German -ich, Middle Low German -ken (diminutive suffix), Middle Dutch -kin, Old Norse -kr (diminutive suffix). More at -kin.

cog

hillock, haddock, bullock, Drillock, ballock, maddock, paddock

Forming nouns from nouns, originally with a diminutive sense.


-lepsy

From Ancient Greek λῆψις (lêpsis, “seizure”) and epilepsy, which is from Ancient Greek ἐπιληψίᾱ (epilēpsíā).


-ote

From Ancient Greek -ωτά (-ōtá), neuter plural of -ωτός (-ōtós), verbal adjective from the stem of -όω (-óō, denominal verb suffix). Related to translingual -ota.

Equipped with a certain feature, having X.


-ile

(non-productive) Tending to, or capable of.


-adic

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame--adic.wav

Back-formation from monadic, etc., from Ancient Greek -άς (-ás) (genitive -άδος (-ádos)) + -ικός (-ikós) (English -ad + -ic). Compare related adicity and Latinate -ary.
The algebraic sense is by analogy with p-adic, since ℤ₍ₚ₎ equipped with the (p)-adic topology passes to the ring of p-adic numbers under the operation of completion.

(mathematics, computing) Having a specified adicity.

(algebra, of a topology on a module M over a ring R, combined with a symbol (here I but also often p, m, or a) representing an ideal of R) Such that the sets x+Iⁿᴹ (where x∈M, n a non-negative integer) form a basis for the topology.


-meter

From Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron, “measure”).

der

Used to form the names of measuring devices.


-ent

From Middle English -ent, also -ant, -aunt, etc., from Old French -ent and its source Latin -ēns (accusative singular -entem), suffix of present participles of verbs in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th conjugations.

absorbent, efficient

Causing, doing, or promoting a certain action.

agent, deterrent

One that causes, does, or promotes a certain action.


-ory

* -or + -y
* From Middle English -orie, from the Latin adjective suffix -tōrius.
* From the Latin noun suffix -tōrium.

excrete and excretory, sense and sensory, statute and statutory.

of or pertaining to, serving for; adjective suffix appended to various words, often nouns but also verbs, to make an adjective form. Often added to words of Latin origin, but used with other words also

ambulatory, dormitory, factory

that which pertains to, or serves for; noun suffix appended to various words


-sky

Alternative forms: -ski, -skii, -skij


-sky

Clipping of Bluesky. Compare -blr, -Tok, and -Tube.

(Internet slang) Combined with a noun or adjective for a specific community of users or a genre of posts on the social media platform Bluesky.


-off

Back-formation from playoff, a deverbal, as the archetype.

We must imagine this as a set of instructions: go forth and buy tickets, so we can keep making our bonkers explosion-offs for you in the future. When asked if he had enjoyed the film, he said: “I loved it” – twice. He wore a mask.

2020 August 29, Rebecca Nicholson, “Tom Cruise: another groundbreaking role for cinema's cheerleader”, in The Guardian:

(suffixed to a bare infinitive) A competition [of the activity denoted by the verb], especially a final, tiebreaker, or repechage within a broader tournament.


-ov

A romanization of the Slavic possessive suffix -ов (-ov).


-aster

Learned borrowing from Latin -aster (“little, petty, partial, incomplete”).

lbor

poet + -aster → poetaster (“unskilled poet”)

critic + -aster → criticaster (“petty critic”)

pillar + -aster → pilaster (“pillar that does not provide support”)

Used to form diminutive and pejorative nouns, labeling someone pretending to be what they are not.


-ine

From Middle English -in, -ine, from Old French -in, -ine, from Latin -īnus, from Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos. More at -en.

asinine, marine, bovine, cervine

(chiefly non-productive) Of or pertaining to.

Levantine, Byzantine, Argentine, Florentine

amine, aniline, caffeine, iodine

(chemistry) Used to form names of chemical substances, especially basic (alkaline) substances, alkaloidal substances, or halogen elements.

-ina

used to form names of chemical substances

glass + -ine → glassine


-ine

From French -ine, feminine of -in; Latin -īna, feminine of -īnus.

hero + -ine → heroine

speaker + -ine → speakerine

(non-productive) Used to form feminine nouns.

Clement + -ine → Clementine

landgrave + -ine → landgravine

(non-productive) Used to form female given names or names of titles.


-ine

cow + -ine → kine

sow + -ine → swine

Found in the plural forms of a small number of English words. Not productive.


-bility

Alternative form of -ability (in certain restricted contexts of word formation)

-ability

Alternative form of -ibility (in certain restricted contexts of word formation)


-zoic

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ζωϊκός (zōïkós), from ζῷον (zôion, “animal”).

Relating to some specified form of animal existence

Relating to some specified geologic period


-cula

Denoting things associated with, or compared to, Dracula: Count Chocula, Bunnicula etc.


-ino

From Italian -ino (“-ine, -o: forming diminutives”), from the dative form of Latin -īnus. In its use in physics, originally after the model of earlier neutrino, coined by Enrico Fermi in 1933. Internet slang usages gained currency in the second half of the 2010s.

bor

The supersymmetric partner of the photon is a photino.

In supersymmetry theory, all bosons have fermionic counterparts, known as bosinos.

(physics) The fermionic supersymmetric partner of a boson (a bosino), symbolized by a tilde over the nonsupersymmetric particle symbol.

pupper + -ino → pupperino

(DoggoLingo) A diminutive or endearing suffix.

How dare you motherfuckers suggest not to eat species known to carry pathogens able to infect humans NOOOOOO NOT THE HECKIN BAT SOUPERINOS!!!!!!

2020 January 31, @Styx666Official, Twitter:

Reddit: NOOO NOT THE HECKIN LIVES THAT MATTERINO! THIS IS LIKE THE HECKIN TRAYVON MARTINORINO! WHAT ABOUT THE RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIALARINO! EVERYONE DESERVES A SECOND CHANCEAROO!

2020 April 2, u/BasicallyADoctor, “Not the doggos”, in Reddit:

(Internet slang, 4chan, derogatory) Used to mock progressives through association with DoggoLingo.


-fier

One who, or that which, does what is indicated by the stem (usually a verb).


-ification

/ɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/

From Middle English -ificacioun (ending on words generally borrowed whole from Old French), from Old French -ification, in turn from Latin -ficātiō, a noun ending which appears on action nouns formed using the suffix -tiō (English -tion) from verbs ending in -ficō (English -ify). Compare -faction.


-poeia

From Latin -poeia, from Ancient Greek ποιέω (poiéō, “I make”).

Used to form nouns that denote the making or creating of something.


-ure

From Middle English -ure, from Old French -ure, from Latin -tūra.

(non-productive) A process; a condition; a result of an action

(non-productive) An official entity or function.


-opsy

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ὄψις (ópsis, “view”).


-gen

Borrowed from French -gène, from the Ancient Greek -γενής (-genḗs).

mutagen ― an agent that gives rise to mutations

tormogen ― a cell that forms a socket

A producer of something, or an agent in the production of something.


-poleis

From Ancient Greek πόλεις (póleis, “cities”), nominative plural form of πόλις (pólis, “city”).


-ic

From Middle English -ik, from Old French -ique, from Latin -icus, from Proto-Indo-European *-kos, *-ḱos, formed with the i-stem suffix *-i- and the adjectival suffix *-kos, *-ḱos. Compare Ancient Greek -ικός (-ikós), Sanskrit -इक (-ika) and Old Church Slavonic -ъкъ (-ŭkŭ). Doublet of -y; compare also -ac.
Proto-Indo-European *-kos on noun stems carried the meaning 'characteristic of, like, typical, pertaining to', and on adjectival stems it acted emphatically.

Cyrillic

acidic

Used to form adjectives from nouns with the meaning “of or pertaining to”.

chemical element
chemical element#English

oxidation number
oxidation number#English

(chemistry) Used to denote certain chemical compounds in which a specified chemical element has a higher oxidation number than in the equivalent compound whose name ends in the suffix -ous. For example sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄) has more oxygen atoms per molecule than sulphurous acid (H₂SO₃).

-ies

Note: these translations are a guide only. For more precise translations, see individual words ending in -ic


-cy

From Anglo-Norman -cie, ultimately from Latin -cia, -tia, Ancient Greek -κια (-kia), -τια (-tia), originally variants of Latin -ia and Ancient Greek -ια (-ia), -ία (-ía) or -εια (-eia). Original loan words like pharmacy and papacy could have formed the model.

(non-productive) Used to form nouns of state, condition or quality e.g. obstinacy.

-cia

used to form nouns of state, condition or quality e.g. obstinacy

(non-productive) Used to form nouns of rank or office e.g. abbacy.


-ally

From Middle English -ally, -alliche, a combination equivalent to -al (adjectival suffix) + -ly (adverbial suffix). The Middle English suffix was originally non-productive, and was from -ly adverbs based on nouns ending an -al. In modern usage the suffix has been reanalyzed and is now treated as a separate, productive suffix.

Alternative form of -ly (adverbial suffix), used with adjectives ending in -ic.


-meister

From meister, from German Meister (“master", "champion”).

A person in charge of a specified thing.

The festival is something of a muso's paradise, with the Bobmeister General (you may know him as Geldof), former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman with his band The Rhythm Kings, Bernard Butler and Bert Jansch and Dublin-based electronic knob-twiddler Autamata all turning out. — "Galway Gets Festive", The Irish Times, July 9, 2004 http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/galway-gets-festive-1.1148459

But 2011 hasn’t started well for the Govemeister. [Reference to Michael Gove, then UK Secretary of State for Education] — engagedlearning.co.uk, January 15, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20150915001618/http://engagedlearning.co.uk/?p=165

Attached to a person's name in humorous (or ironic) approbation.


-istic

Used to form adjectives from nouns or from other adjectives, with the meaning "of or pertaining to" the preceding component.


-ido

Volapük + -ido → Volapükido (“conlang derived from Volapük”)

Toki Pona + -ido → tokiponido (“conlang derived from Toki Pona”)

In the "Language Samples" section it also has Communicationssprache (1836) – mostly a simplified French; […] and Spelin (1888), which seems to be a thoroughly reformed Volapükido […

2023 August 20, u/Christian_Si, Reddit, archived from the original on 2023-11-19:

at long last, i've completed my tokiponido, "toki pona with penultimate stress"! i'll post the docs shortly after

2024 February 9, @blazerlazer55, Twitter, archived from the original on 2024-09-06:

constructed language
constructed language#English

(conlanging) Attached to a the name of a language (typically a constructed language) to denote a conlang derived from or based on that language.


-istical

Combination of the adjective suffixes -istic (-ist + -ic) and -al.

Used to form adjectives meaning of or relating to corresponding nouns ending in -istic or -ist; most often redundant with respect to the latter which can also become adjectives through the addition of -ic alone, or with no change to the root noun. Hence, theist, theistic and theistical can all be used as the adjective form of theism.


-istically

Alternately -istical (“adjective suffix”) + -ly (“adverb suffix”) or -istic (“adjective suffix”) + -ally (“adverb suffix”). In either case, ultimately -ist + -ic + -al + -ly.

“It goes without saying,” said McFee, the filled-up philosopher, funistically inclined, “that aside from baseball players and ice men, the professional prophet for profit makes more of it than any other man”.

1916, Artemes Ward Utting, The Judge, page 377:

Horns, trumpets, and trombones, both soloistically and sectionally, became central to the orchestral concept... His highly subtle orchestration elevates woodwinds, more often scored soloistically than sectionally.

2003, Don Michael Randel, The Harvard Dictionary of Music, page 598:

Used to form adverbs describing action in the manner of the root adjective; use is identical irrespective of whether the root adjective ends with -istic or -istical.


-man

Sranan Tongo: -man

→ French: -man

→ Japanese: マン (-man)

→ Welsh: -mon

horse + -man → horseman

sports + -man → sportsman

Someone (possibly implied male) who is an expert in an area or who takes part in an activity.

law + -man → lawman

news + -man → newsman

Someone (possibly implied male) who is employed or holds a position in an area.

free + -man → freeman

ice + -man → iceman

super + -man → superman

Someone (possibly implied male) who has special characteristics relating to a topic or area.

Scots + -man → Scotsman

Dutch + -man → Dutchman

China + -man → Chinaman

Yorkshire + -man → Yorkshireman

Someone (possibly implied male) who has a particular nationality.

H + -man → H-man (“man whose name starts with H, e.g. Harry”)

J + -man → J-man (“man whose name starts with an J”)

A man whose name begins with the preceding letter.

Guinea + -man → Guineaman (“ship of the West African slave trade”)

East India + -man → East Indiaman

merchant + -man → merchantman

Greenland + -man → Greenlandman (“a whaling ship”)

China + -man → Chinaman (“sailing ship engaged in the Old China Trade”)

A ship which has special characteristics relating to a trade or area.


-manship

Stephen Potter is best known for his gamesmanship theory, a cunning, psychological tactic used to best a competitor, on or off the field. His basic "-manship" principle was later incorporate to include many everyday events.

1996, Steven H. Gale, Encyclopedia of British Humorists: Geoffrey Chaucer to John Cleese, page 874:

Quippmanship n.
The ability to produce a catchy soundbyte, witty remark, or clever turn of phrase. The art, skill, or ability to create a catchy soundbyte, witty remark, or clever turn of phrase. Formed by an unknown word formation process.
[affixation; formed from 'quip' + 'manship'].

2007, Rice University Neologisms Database:

Expertise, involvement, or special status in an area.


-opia

Attested classically as -ωπία in a few words, such as ἀμβλυωπία (ambluōpía). Apparently equivalent to -οψία (-opsía).

(medicine, ophthalmology) vision (used to form names of visual defects)


-plegic

Adjectives derived from the related -plegia


-plegia

From paraplegia, from Ancient Greek παραπληγία (paraplēgía), ultimately from πλήσσω (plḗssō, “to strike”). By surface analysis, para- + -plegia.


-men

horsemen, sportsmen; lawmen, newsmen; freemen, icemen, supermen; Scotsmen, Chinamen


-naut

From Ancient Greek ναύτης (naútēs, “sailor”).

Forms nouns meaning voyager or traveller

-naut

forms nouns meaning a voyager, farer or tripper


-dipsia

From Ancient Greek δῐ́ψᾰ (dĭ́psă, “thirst”).


-ical

From Middle English -ical, a combination of -ic from Old French -ique, from Latin -icus, related to Ancient Greek suffix Ancient Greek -ικός (-ikós), plus -al from Latin adjective suffix -alis, or Old French -el.
By surface analysis, -ic + -al.

mythical, theistical, whimsical

Used to form adjectives from nouns with the meaning "of or pertaining to"; adjectival suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to make an adjective form. Often added to words of Greek or Latin origin, but used with other words also.


-osis

From Ancient Greek -ωσις (-ōsis, “state, abnormal condition, or action”), from -όω (-óō) stem verbs + -σις (-sis).

der

(pathology) functional disease or condition such as hepatosis

formation, increase such as leukocytosis


-fu

Google + -fu → Google-fu

script + -fu → script-fu

My Google-fu is weak!

Aragorn uses Ranger-fu to figure out that Sam and Frodo have taken a boat.

(slang) Used to form nouns indicating expertise or mastery of specified skill or area of knowledge.


-mere

From Ancient Greek μέρος (méros, “part”).

Forming nouns with the sense of part, segment


-proof

From the adjective proof (“fully resistant”), from the same Old French root as prove.

Suffix added to a noun to form an adjective denoting imperviousness to that noun.


-icity

Italian + -icity → Italianicity

electric + -icity → electricity

Used to form nouns, denoting a quality or condition, from adjectives, especially ones ending in -ic (in which case "ic" is not duplicated (see -ity)).


-atim

Changes a component into an adverb meaning "by that component."


-grave

From Old Saxon grēve, typically used in translations of feudal German titles ending in German Graf (“count”), from Proto-West Germanic *garāfijō.

(historical) Used to signify a local ruler or administrator.


-phor

Alternative spelling of -phore (carrier)


-fix

The common element of prefix, suffix, and affix — all ultimately from Latin figere (“to fasten”).

infix ― attached within

circumfix ― attached around

(grammar) Forming nouns denoting a morpheme used in word formation joined to a word in the specified way

suffix ― append

prefix ― preface

(chiefly grammar) Forming verbs denoting fastening or attaching (something) in the specified way


-machy

Representing Ancient Greek -μαχία (-makhía), from μάχη (mákhē, “battle, fight; dispute”).

Forming nouns with the sense of ‘battle, fight’.


-osity

From Middle English -ouste, from Old French -ouseté, from Latin -ōsitāt-; later modified to the current form. It is equivalent to -ose or -ous + -ity.

Forming nouns, usually abstract, and usually from adjectives in -ous or -ose.

(colloquial) Forming nouns from other adjectives for humorous effect.


-ski

From Russian -ский (-skij, adjectival suffix), perhaps influenced by Russki or other -ski-terminated terms such as Russian surnames. Doublet of -ish and -esque.

bor

(informal, humorous) Added to a word, name, or phrase to invoke Russianness, Polishness, or a more general Slavicness.


-i-

A word-internal spelling variant of a word-final y.

happiness (happy + -ness)

penniless (penny + -less)

beautiful (beauty + -ful)

A spelling variant of a word-final -y vowel when followed by a suffix that does not begin with an i, for example -ied, -ier, -iest.

pantiliner (panty + liner)

In compound words, a spelling variant of a final or suffixed -y vowel in the first word.


-pathy

From Ancient Greek πάθος (páthos, “suffering”) + -y.

suffix

sympathy, antipathy, empathy

neuropathy, psychopathy, sociopathy

damage to, disease of, disorder of, or abnormality

hydropathy, homeopathy, naturopathy

therapy, treatment, method, cure, curative treatment


-eous

From earlier -uous, alteration of -wose, -wos, a variant of -wise, from Middle English -wise, -wis, -wys, from Old English -wīs (“-wise”). More at -wise.

righteous, mighteous, thefteous, lighteous, misteous, timeous, wrongeous

Used with nouns to form adjectives with the sense of resembling to or having the characteristics of the suffixed term; similar to -ous.


-eous

Chiefly from -ous with preceding vowel (compare -ious); compare also Latin -eus; but also by concatenation with English -te (an earlier form of -ty).

Used to form adjectives meaning resembling or having characteristics of the related term.


-tuple

a 20-tuple

1948, Roy Dubisch, “The number of r-tuples of pairs of integers”, in The American Mathematical Monthly 55:

2007, Edward Kissin, “On Clarkson-McCarthy inequalities for n-tuples of operators”, in Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society 135:8:

(mathematics) A tuple containing the specified number of terms.


-self

From Middle English -self, from Old English self; compare Dutch -zelf.

Used in forming intensive and reflexive forms of the singular personal pronouns.


-selves

personal pronoun
personal pronoun#English

Used in forming intensive and reflexive forms of the plural personal pronouns.


-biotic

From Ancient Greek βιωτικός (biōtikós, “of life”), from βίος (bíos, “life”).

bor

Used to form adjectives describing a method of living

Used to form nouns describing organisms having a specified method of living


-mania

A place where something can be found in great amounts.


-maniac

Indicating a person who experiences a type of compulsion or obsession.

-man

indicating a person who experiences compulsion


-aire

By analogy with millionaire, which was, in turn, borrowed from French millionnaire.

One whose wealth exceeds a specific number of units in the local currency.

-aire

one whose wealth exceeds a specific number of units in the local currency


-logue

From French -logue, from Ancient Greek -λόγος (-lógos, “one who speaks (in a certain manner)”).

der

Used to denote discourse of a specified kind.

(chemistry, genetics) Used to denote correspondence (homology or analogy).


-most

From Middle English -most, -moste, -mest, from Old English -mest, conflated with most; from Proto-Germanic *-umistaz, from the comparative suffix *-umô + the regular superlative suffix *-istaz (English -est); *-umô in turn is from Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-. See foremost for more.

Furthest; -est; used to form superlatives of certain adjectives, especially directional and inherently-comparative ones.


-mycete

From Ancient Greek μύκης (múkēs, “mushroom, fungus, mushroom-shaped objects”).

(biology, mycology) Used to form words used for categorising fungi based on their evolutionary origin, life history, growth form, or ecological preferences.

mycete

back-formed noun counterpart to the prefix


-phagy

From Ancient Greek -φαγία (-phagía), combining form of φαγεῖν (phageîn, “to eat”), infinitive aorist of ἐσθίω (esthíō, “I eat”).

(forming nouns) Feeding on; consumption of.

(forming nouns) Eating in a specified manner, normal or abnormal.


-vore

An organism, usually animal, identified by its kind of diet.

آكِل

an animal identified by their kind of diet

humivore

dark brown part of soil that consists of decomposed plants and animals


-zoan

(zoology) Used to categorise animals based on their evolutionary origin, life history, growth-form or ecological preferences.


-ne

back + -ne → bacne/backne

boob + -ne → boobne

butt + -ne → buttne

Yeast infections are different from acne (or "rackne").

2008, Marisa C. Weiss, Isabel Friedman, Taking Care of Your "Girls": A Breast Health Guide for Girls, Teens, and In-Betweens, New York, N.Y.: Three Rivers Press, →ISBN, page 63:

It's so refreshing to be with a guy who actually wants to be seen with you in the daytime that you convince yourself you can ignore the busted grille, the acne, backne, and chestne, or the fact that YOU normally wouldn't want to be seen with HIM in the daytime if you weren't so tired/desperate/horny. But resist.

2012, Heather Rutman, The Girl's Guide to Depravity: How to Get Laid Without Getting Screwed, Philadelphia, P.A., London: Running Press, →ISBN, page 79:

It's fucking weird. Yes, it's just a job, but most people's jobs don't consist of slamming your vagina against the flaccid, nylon-wrapped penis of a guy wearing massive amounts of foundation to conceal his assne.

2014, Lena Dunham, Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's "Learned", New York, N.Y.: Random House, →ISBN, page 104:

I know this sounds ghey, but he had the sad eyes of someone all the girls once loved before puberty took a huge hairy dump on him. Now he had a big Abomination body, a fivehead, robot jaw, clown feet, and acne. I didn't look, but probably backne and neckne too.

2016, Robert Wilder, Nickel, Santa Fe, N.N.: Leaf Storm Press, →ISBN, page 250:

Bodne tends to be more inflammatory (think: big red bumps or cysts instead of just blackheads), making it challenging for drugstore creams to clear everything up on their own—especially with severe breakouts. Also, your body is a much larger area compared to your face.

2019 March 6, Carolyn Twersky, “Say "See Ya Bye" to Body Acne with These Helpful Tips”, in Seventeen, New York, N.Y.: Hearst Digital Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-08-15:

Upgrade your below-the-chin skincare routine with these zit-zapping favorites. Bacne and bodne, be gone.

2022 October 24, Lauren Balsamo, “The Holy Grail Acne Awards: 50 Game-Changing Products, Tools, and Treatments for Clearer Skin”, in Cosmopolitan, New York, N.Y.: Hearst Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-01-27:

(informal) Designating acne located on a particular part of the body.


-ia

From Latin -ia and Ancient Greek -ία (-ía), -εια (-eia), which form abstract nouns of feminine gender.

Used in forming names of countries, diseases, flowers, and rarely collections of things (such as militaria, deletia).


-ia

From the endings of corresponding Latin and Ancient Greek plural nouns.

Used in forming plurals of nouns in -ium and -ion.


-to-be

then-

antonym(s) of “future, later, expectant”


-in-law

Back-formation from mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, etc.

cousin-in-law


-nik

From the Slavic suffix represented by Russian -ник (-nik). This suffix experienced a surge in English coinages for nicknames and diminutives after the 1957 Soviet launch of the first Sputnik satellite. English usage is heavily influenced by Yiddish usage of ־ניק (-nik) and similar borrowed words (nogoodnik, nudnik, kibbutznik).

Creates a nickname for a person who exemplifies, endorses, or is associated with the thing or quality specified (by the base form), often a particular ideology or preference.


-ica

From Latin -ica, neuter plural of -icus.
Note that etymologically this is not -ic + -a (“(plural ending)”), as -ic is the English form, having dropped the -um, though adding an -a to an English word ending in -ic does produce a superficial etymologically.

a collection of things that relate to a specific place, person, theme, etc.


-ce

Her stomach being extremely delicate, he scarcely ordered any medicines for her all this time, except a cordial julep, with spir. volat. oleos. tinct. of rhubarb as a laxative, and a julep of aqu. rosar. acet. [illegible] alb. and syr. bals. of which last she took 2 table spoonfuls 2ce or 3ce a day in ¼ of a pint of lintseed tea.

1809, abridgement of, 1758, Rob. Whytt, "On the Remarkable Effects of Blisters in Lessening the Quickness of the Pulse in Coughs, attended with Infarction of the Lungs and Fever" (Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, volume fifty, page 569), in, Charles Hutton, George Shaw, and Richard Pearson, The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Abridged, volume eleven, page 222 http://books.google.com/books?id=DD5jAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA222&dq=3ce

Whenever a user tries to login […] , a second login box comes up and they have to log in twice, apparently once for Novell, and once for the NT domain.

1998 January 21, "LT" <elstazeelandnet.nl>, "Novell 32bit client for NT - have to log in 2ce???", message-ID <34C5C8D6.7927D6B@zeelandnet.nl>, comp.os.netware.connectivity, Usenet

What you need is a "synthetic" corks which are about 2ce or 3ce the price of cork "corks" and any good home brew shop will be able to supply.

2003 August 23, "Pinky" [Trevor A Panther] <tapan@SPAMLESSblueyonder.co.uk>, "Re: Plastic corks - UK", message-ID <Ziy1b.2042$O62.16624775@news-text.cableinet.net>, rec.crafts.winemaking, Usenet http://groups.google.com/group/rec.crafts.winemaking/msg/9c4aa0393305da76

multiplicative numeral
multiplicative numeral#English

(after 1, 2, or 3) Times: used to form a multiplicative numeral from a cardinal numeral.


-idine

Derived from the ending of pyridine, which comes from German Pyridin which in turn comes from a combination of pyro- -id and -in (-ide and -ine)

(organic chemistry) Denotes a chemical compound containing a ring containing nitrogen

alpha-2 adrenergic receptor
alpha-2 adrenergic receptor

(pharmacology) alpha-2 adrenergic receptor agonists.


-osin

An alpha-1 adrenergic receptor antagonist


-terol

(pharmacology) Used to form names of phenethylamine derivatives used as bronchodilators.


-metry

From Old French -métrie, from Latin -metria, from Ancient Greek -μετρία (-metría), from μέτρον (métron, “measurement”) + -ίᾱ (-íā, “-y: forming abstract nouns”). Equivalent to -meter + -y.

Forming nouns relating to measures and measurement.

-metria

forming nouns relating to measures and measurement


-metre

(nonstandard, British) Alternative form of -meter (suffix used to form the names of measuring devices).


-ass

tlb

(originally African-American Vernacular, chiefly Canada, US, slang, vulgar)

Partially from ass, and partially from a corruption or simplification of assed.

That's a big-ass wrench you've got there.

Wilson: He's right. They endorse Royce, fine, 'the hell else they gonna do? But what they say and don't say from the pulpit the Sunday before the primary we still got a dog in that fight.
Carcetti: I do this right, they respect it.
Wilson: An' if they don't, at least they get to see a beggin’-ass white man on his knees. Always a feel-good moment for the folks.

2006 October 1, Dennis Lehane, “Refugees” (00:32:06), in The Wire, season 4, episode 4:

I recognize that the council has made a decision, but given that it's a stupid-ass decision, I've elected to ignore it.

2012, Joss Whedon, The Avengers, Marvel Studios:

You've got to work with me
Now, I don't wanna see any fake-ass workers
I need real builders

2018, “Work It”, in Working Class Woman, performed by Marie Davidson:

Don't be such a broke-ass—you can afford a fast-food run today!

en:intensifying nominalizer of an adjective

Used to convert an adjective into a noun for a person who has that trait.

That's some Nixon-ass shit he's pulling.

What's that formal-ass language you're using? We're at a party!

-like

resembling; forms adjectives from nouns only


-ery

From Middle English -erie, from Anglo-Norman -erie, which is from -ier + -ie; a suffix forming abstract nouns.
The suffix first occurs in loans from Old French into Middle English, but becomes productive within English by the 16th century, in some instances properly a combination of the agent suffix -er with -y as in bakery, brewery, but also as a single suffix in terms like slavery, machinery (which are not derived from slaver or machiner). By surface analysis, -er + -y.

midwife + -ery → midwifery

cook + -ery → cookery

Added to occupational etc. nouns to form other nouns meaning the "art, craft, or practice of."

bake + -ery → bakery

distill + -ery → distillery

join + -ery → joinery

Added to verbs to form nouns meaning "place of" (an art, craft, or practice).

crock + -ery → crockery

hose + -ery → hosiery

shrub + -ery → shrubbery

Added to nouns to form other nouns meaning "a class, group, or collection of."

snob + -ery → snobbery

tomfool + -ery → tomfoolery

Added to nouns to form other nouns meaning "behavior characteristic of."


-n't

Univerbation of not and some preceding words (see usage notes) and following elision of medial vowel, or univerbation of n't and some preceding words. Compare n't.

It is a beautiful bouquet! You needn't've bothered, thank you.

(no longer productive, unless humorous) Negates the meaning of the clause in which it occurs.


-iser

(British spelling) alternative form of -izer


-ata

Used to form formal plurals of certain Greek-derived words ending '-a', such as thema/themata, stigma/stigmata, schema/schemata.


-ete

IUPAC Commission of Nomenclature for Heterocyclic Compounds (1957)

Indicating an unsaturated 4-ring heterocyclic compound with nitrogen


-ii

From rebracketing of plural forms like radii (plural of radius), borrowed from Latin. Latin forms the nominative plural of second-declension nouns by replacing -us with -ī, which results in plural forms that end in -iī for nouns with singulars ending in -ius. Some English speakers occasionally extend -ii to form nonstandard plural forms of English nouns that end simply with the letters -us or with other letter sequences with a similar pronunciation (such as -is /ɪs/).

Elvis + -ii → Elvii
penis + -ii → penii
virus + -ii → virii
walrus + -ii → walrii
fetus + -ii → fetii
stewardess + -ii → stewardii
Airbus + -ii → Airbii

Used to form nonstandard, uncommon, often humorous alternative plural forms of nouns that end in -us, -is or a similar sound.


-'s

→ Korean: 스 (-seu)

From Middle English -s, -es, from Old English -es (“-'s”, masculine and neuter genitive singular ending), from Proto-Germanic *-as, *-is (masculine and neuter genitive singular ending). Cognate with Dutch -s, -es (“-'s”), German -s, -es (“-'s”), Danish -s, -es (“-'s”), Swedish -s (“-'s”), Norwegian -s (“-'s”), Icelandic -s (“-'s”).

inh

Jane's house is bigger than Sarah's.

The cat bit the dog’s tail. (the dog + ’s)

The cat bit the dog with the shaggy fur’s tail. (the dog with the shaggy fur + ’s)

women’s contributions to science

Before kick-off, a section of Chelsea’s support sadly let themselves and their club down by noisily interrupting the silence held in memory of the Hillsborough disaster and for Livorno midfielder Piermario Morosini, who collapsed and died after suffering a heart attack during a Serie B game on Saturday.

2012 April 15, Phil McNulty, “Tottenham 1-5 Chelsea”, in BBC:

A possessive marker, indicating that an object belongs to the noun or noun phrase bearing the marker.

genitive construction is used - the thing owned is followed by the owner in the genitive case - (إضافَة iḍāfa)

на

des m or n der f (genitive, after the thing owned and before the owner, or before the owner and the thing owned)

von (after the thing owned and before the owner with dative)

-a/-e/-ja/-je (suffix on the thing owned)

milik

optional, after the thing owned and before the owner

til (after the thing owned and before the owner, his genitive)

(genitive case of the owner after the thing owned)

We’re going to Luigi’s for dinner tonight. — that is, “Luigi’s house” or “Luigi’s restaurant”

I'm going to the butcher’s for a steak.

I bought it at Tesco’s. (see s-form)

greengrocer’s

In the absence of a specified object, used to indicate “the house/place/establishment of”.

-s/-os/-as/-es/-ös (menders, sellers, and craftspeople like órás, újságos, fazekas, zöldséges, pedikűrös)

You need a driver’s licence.

These are popular boy’s T-shirts.

Alex can be a girl’s name.

That's a girl’s toy. (A toy intended for use by girls.) — Homographic to: That's a girl’s toy. (The toy of a specific girl.)

people’s

I took three weeks' holiday.

The rocks lay at about a mile's distance from the shore.

Used to indicate a quantity of something, especially of time.

the doctor's help (help provided by the doctor)

the King's capture (event of the King being captured)

my father's portrait (portrait depicting my father)

in Dublin's fair city (in the fair city of Dublin)

Used to indicate various other kinds of relationship, such as source or origin, object of an action, subject depicted, etc.

a friend of Sarah's

NAy, but this dotage of our Generals
Ore-flowes the meaſure: […]

c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 340, column 1:

(see usage notes) Attached to a noun or noun phrase linked to a genitive of, forming a double genitive.