Vocab 2 (Suffixes) + Vocab 3 Flashcards
-ter (or -re, after a root ending in -t, from
French influence) (-τηρ)
NOUN FORMING SUFFIX
‘means of’, ‘place of’
* Ureter, sceptre, sphincter, crater,
theatre
-ist, -ast (-ιστης)
NOUN FORMING SUFFIX
‘one who’
* Antagonist, gymnast, psychiatrist,
bacteriologist
-te, -t (pl. -tes) (-της)
NOUN FORMING SUFFIX
‘one who’, ‘that which’,
* Prophet, gemete, antidote, diabetes
-ician (from French -icien)
NOUN FORMING SUFFIX
‘specialist in’, ‘practitioner of’
* Pediatrician, dietician, musician
-ia, -y (-ια)
NOUN FORMING SUFFIX
‘state of’, ‘condition of’, ‘quality of’
* Hysteria, neuralgia, agony,
philosophy
-ism, -ismus (-ισμος)
NOUN FORMING SUFFIX
‘condition of’ (‘belief in’)
* Alcoholism, botulism, metabolism,
largyngismus, strabism
-sis, -sia, -sy, -se (-σις)
NOUN FORMING SUFFIX
‘act of’, ‘process of’ (sometimes the result
of the process)
* Synthesis, diagnosis, amnesia,
anaesthesia, ecstasy,
NOTE: nouns created with this suffix often also
form adjectives with the -tic, -stic, suffix
‘pertaining to the act or process of’,
e.g. synthetic, analytic
-ma, -m, -me, -mat- (-μα, -ματος)
NOUN FORMING SUFFIX
‘result of the act of’
* Cinema, drama, stigma, schism,
theme
-oma, -omat- (-ομα, -οματος)
NOUN FORMING SUFFIX
denoting tumours and other abnormal
growths
* Melanoma, carcinoma, haematoma,
glaucoma,
* NOTE: When followed by another
element, the form is -omat-,
e.g. melanomatous.
NOTE: this ending originally in Greek (-ωμα) was
just a way to make any noun. In the 16th and 17th
centuries, it was favoured by doctors for describing
different medical conditions, and in the 19th century it
began being used for cancers especially.
-osis (-ωσις)
NOUN FORMING SUFFIX
‘diseased condition of’, ‘act of’, ‘process of’
* Psychosis, neurosis, hypnosis
-itis (-ιτις)
NOUN FORMING SUFFIX
‘inflammation of’, ‘inflammatory disease of’
* Appendicitis, arthritis, tonsillitis
-in (-inus)
NOUN FORMING SUFFIX
‘chemical substance’
* antitoxin, insulin, epinephrine
NOTE: Originally a Latin suffix, it was brought into
German and then specially used in chemistry, where
it was combined with many Greek roots.
-ium (-ιον → -ium)
NOUN FORMING SUFFIX
‘part’, ‘lining or enveloping tissue’, ‘region’
* Perinephrium (the connective and
fatty tissue about the kidney), epigastrium (the upper and middle
region of the abdomen)
-us (-ος → -us)
NOUN FORMING SUFFIX
‘condition’, ‘person’
* anotus (a Sphenomorphus anotus is a
lizard without external ears);
Hydrocephalus (a condition in which
fluid accumulates in the brain)
-idae, -ida, -id (-ιδ-)
NOUN FORMING SUFFIX
‘descended from’, ‘related to’
* Acaridae, arachnida/arachnid
-aemia, (-emia) ( = (H)AEM/(H)EM- + -ia)
COMPOUND SUFFIX
‘condition of the blood’, ‘congestion of
blood’
* anaemia, leukaemia, anoxaemia
-logy (= LOG- + -y)
COMPOUND SUFFIX
‘science of’
* physiology, cardiology, psychology
-lysis (= LY- + -sis)
COMPOUND SUFFIX
‘dissolution of or by’ (‘surgical division or
separation’)
* hydrolysis, nephrolysis, electrolysis
-mania (= MAIN- + -ia)
COMPOUND SUFFIX
‘madness for of about’
* kleptomania, dipsomania, egomania,
monomania
NOTE: the Greek root MAIN- used here means ‘fury,
anger.’ It is not learned as a separate root in this class
since it is mainly either used in this compound suffix
toda, or as the stand-alone noun ‘mania.
-pathy (= PATH- + -y)
COMPOUND SUFFIX
‘disease of’, ‘treatment of disease of or by’
* osteopathy, neuropathy, hydropathy
-phobia (= PHOB- + -ia)
COMPOUND SUFFIX
‘abnormal fear of’
* claustrophobia, agoraphobia,
hydrophobia
NOTE: the Greek root PHOB- used here means
‘fear.’ It is not learned as a separate root in this class
since it is mainly used in this compound suffix today.
-therapy (= THERAP- + -y)
COMPOUND SUFFIX
‘treatment of or by’
* chemotherapy, psychotherapy,
heliotherapy
NOTE: This one is taken straight from the Greek
noun θεραπεία, which means ‘service, healingservice.’ It is, of course, used as a stand-alone noun in
English today
-tomy (= TOM + -y)
COMPOUND SUFFIX
‘surgical operation on’, ‘surgical cutting of’
* glossotomy, gastrotomy, lobotomy
-ectomy ( = ec- + TOM- + -y)
COMPOUND SUFFIX
‘surgical operation’, ‘surgical removal of’ (specifically removal)
* appendectomy, tonsillectomy