List of English suffixes
This is an incomplete list of suffixes in English:
| suffix | Meaning | Samples
|
| -ad | group | triad, monad
|
| -agogy | leading | pedagogy, demagogy
|
| -archy | rule, leadership | gynarchy, anarchy
|
| -athlon | sporting event | pentathlon, decathlon
|
| -cele, -coele, -coel | body cavity | mucocoel or mucocoele
|
| -cele | tumor, hernia | hydatidocele
|
| -centesis | puncturing | amniocentesis, rachicentesis
|
| -chondrion | small grainlike structure | mitochondrion
|
| -cide | murder, killing agent | suicide, vespacide, regicide
|
| -cracy | rule, government | kakistocracy, democracy, androcracy
|
| -cycle | circle, cycle, unit of radio frequency | epicycle, hydrocycle
|
| -ectasia, -ectasis | stretching out | brochiectasis , telangiectasia
|
| -ectomy | surgical removal | laryngectomy, vasectomy
|
| -emesis | vomiting | hematemesis, hyperemesis
|
| -emia | blood condition | leukemia, anaemia
|
| -enchyma | cellular tissue | mesenchyma , karyenchyma
|
| -esque | in the style of | Pythonesque, Romanesque
|
| -ess | female | actress, waitress, stewardess
|
| -esthesis, -esthesia | sensation, feeling | synesthesia, kinesthesis
|
| -fugal | fuge, driving or travelling away from, expelling | centrifugal
|
| -ful | full of, having some or much | hopeful , useful
|
| -gate | a scandal, often political (back-formed from the Watergate scandal) | -
Watergate, nipplegate
|
| -gon | geometric shape | polygon, pentagon
|
| -hedron | geometric solid | icosahedron, tetrahedron
|
| -holic | love, addiction | alcoholic
|
| -ic |
|
| -icle | originally referring to a spike-like formation | see wiktionary:-icle
|
| -id | skin rash | syphilid
|
| -ism | doctrine, act, practice, condition | Protestantism, alcoholism, Buddhism, southernism
|
| -ist | person | dentist
|
| -itis | disease, inflammation | hepatitis, gingivitis
|
| -itude | attitude, certitude
|
| -ium | metallic element (exception: helium) | sodium, Calcium
|
| -kinesis | movement (ability thereof) | telekinesis
|
| -less | lack of | homeless, useless
|
| -ly | -like, having the attributes of; In modern English, primarily changes adjectives to adverbs; also changes some nouns to adjectives and some (past-tense) verbs to adverbs | quick(adj) >quickly(adv), state(n) > stately(adj), abashed(v) > abashedly(adv)
|
| -mania | an irrational but irresistible motive for a belief or action | kleptomania, megalomania, mythomania
|
| -ography or -ogram | writing, description | stenography, geography, ideogram
|
| -oid | resembling | solenoid, hominoid
|
| -ology | study, science | planetology, thyroidology , phthisiology
|
| -omics | area of biology | proteomics
|
| -onomy | knowledge of | astronomy
|
| -onym | name, word | antonym, consonym , heteronym
|
| -osis | process, action | mitosis, osmosis
|
| -osis | formation | ostosis
|
| -osis | diseased condition | psychosis
|
| -phagy, -phagia | eating | monophagy
|
| -philia | attraction | hemophilia
|
| -phobia | fear | acrophobia, mysophobia
|
| -phone | sound, audio | telephone, homophone
|
| -polis | referring to city or big area | Metropolis
|
| -potent (or potence) | power | omnipotent, equipotent , impotence
|
| -science | knowing | omniscience
|
| -scope | from Greek skopos, view; instrument for viewing and observing spaces | microscope, telescope
|
| -ship | circle, state of being | friendship, relationship
|
| -stan | land, country | Afghanistan
|
| -tropism | to turn | phototropism
|
| -us | inflammation | ulcus (ulcer)
|
| -ward | direction | southward
|
| -wise | direction | clockwise
|
See also
External link
|
|