-ite
See also: ite, ITE, ʻite, -ité, and -īte
English
Etymology 1
From French -ite, from Old French, from Latin -ītēs, from Ancient Greek -ῑ́της (-ī́tēs).
Pronunciation
- (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /-aɪt/
Suffix
-ite
- (sometimes derogatory) Used to form nouns denoting followers or adherents of a specified person, idea, doctrine, movement, etc.
- Adamsite, Campbellite, Jacobite, laborite, Mansonite, Reaganite, Thatcherite
- Used to form nouns denoting descendants of a specified historical person, especially a biblical figure.
- Cainite, Ephraimite, Hamite, Japhetite, Lamanite
- 1830, Joseph Smith, Book of Mormon, translation of original by Mormon, 4 Nephi 1:17:
- 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.
- (chiefly US, India) Used to form demonyms.
- Brooklynite, Delhiite, Jerusalemite, Keralite, New Jerseyite, Seattleite, Sydneyite, Wisconsinite, Wyomingite; also see ashramite, hostelite
- Used to form nouns denoting rocks or minerals.
- andalusite, anorthosite, anthracite, erythrite, forsterite, graphite, hawleyite, titanite
- Used to form nouns denoting fossil organisms.
- ammonite, belemnite
- (biology) Used to form nouns denoting segments or components of the body or an organ of the body.
- dendrite, somite
- Used to form nouns denoting the product of a specified process or a commercially manufactured product.
- Bakelite, cordite, dynamite, ebonite, metabolite, vulcanite
- (chemistry) Used to form names of certain chemical compounds, especially salts or esters of acids whose name ends in -ous.
- bromite, chlorite, iodite, phosphite, sulfite
Translations
a follower or adherent of a specified person
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a descendant of a specified historical person
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part of the body or part of an organ of the body
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used to form names of minerals and rocks
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a native or resident of a specified place
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a salt or ester of an acid whose name ends in -ous
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Etymology 2
From Latin past participles in -ītus, of verbs in -īre, -ĕre, -ēre, partly via Old French.
Pronunciation
- (General American, Received Pronunciation) either IPA(key): /-aɪt/ or IPA(key): /-ɪt/
Suffix
-ite
- Forms adjectives.
See also
English terms suffixed with -ite
Anagrams
- EIT, ETI, TEI, tie
French
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin -ītēs, from Ancient Greek -ίτης (-ítēs).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /it/
Suffix
-ite f (plural -ites)
- (medicine) -itis
- alvéole (“alveolus”) + -ite → alvéolite (“alveolitis”)
- (mineralogy) -ite
- pyro- (“pyro-”) + -ite → pyrite (“pyrite”)
Suffix
-ite m (plural -ites)
- (chemistry) -ite
- arsén(ique) (“arsenic”) + -ite → arsénite (“arsenite”)
Suffix
-ite m or f by sense (plural -ites)
- -ite (follower of someone or something)
- Adam (“Adam”) + -ite → adamite (“Adamite”)
- Ali (“Ali”) + -ite → alaouite (“Alawite”)
- -ite (person from a given location, especially in a historical context)
- Israël (“Israel”) + -ite → Israélite (“Israelite”)
Suffix
-ite (plural -ites)
- -ite (relating to following someone or something)
- Anaximandre (“Anaximander”) + -ite → anaximandrite (“Anaximanderian”)
- -ite (relating to a given location, especially in a historical context)
- Israël (“Israel”) + -ite → israélite (“Israelite”)
Interlingua
Etymology
Borrowed from English -ite, French -ite, Italian -ita, Portuguese -ita/Spanish -ita, all ultimately from Latin -īta, , from Ancient Greek -ίτης (-ítēs).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈite/
Suffix
-ite
- forms nouns from nouns, denoting a rock or mineral; -ite
- ligno (“wood”) + -ite → lignite (“lignite”)
- meteoro (“meteor”) + -ite → meteorite (“meteorite”)
- Andalusia (“Andalusia”) + -ite → andalusite (“andalusite”)
Usage notes
- This suffix is not to be confused with -ita (“inhabitant, adherent”).
Derived terms
Category Interlingua terms suffixed with -ite not found
References
- Alexander Gode; Hugh E. Blair (1955) Interlingua: A Grammar of the International Language, →ISBN
Italian
Suffix
-ite f (plural -iti)
- used with a stem to form the feminine plural past participle of regular -ire verbs
- used with a stem to form the second-person plural present and imperative of regular -ire verbs
- (mineralogy) -ite
- (chemistry) -ite
- (pathology) -itis
Derived terms
Italian terms suffixed with -ite
See also
- -osi
Anagrams
- tie', tiè
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈiː.teː/, [ˈiːt̪eː]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈi.te/, [ˈiːt̪e]
Suffix
-ītē
- ablative/vocative singular of -ītēs
Middle English
Alternative forms
- -ete, -etee, -itee, -iteþ, -itie, -itye, -yte, -ytee, -ytie, -ythe, -ytye
Etymology
From Old French -ite, -ete, from Latin -itās, -itātem; compare -te.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /-iˈteː/, /-iteː/
Suffix
-ite
- Synonym of -te
Usage notes
- Syncope sometimes results in the replacement of -ite with -te. For instance, trinte is sometimes found for trinite (“Trinity”).
- Conversely, learned influence may sometimes result in -te with -ite, especially when the word goes back to a Latin original with -itās. This is exemplified by the replacement of personalte (“personality”) with personalite in later Middle English (compare Latin persōnālitās).
- As in modern English, -ite tends to attract stress to the antepenultimate syllable, while -te leaves stress where it was on the root.
Derived terms
Middle English terms suffixed with -ite
Descendants
- English: -ity
- Scots: -ity, -eety
References
- “-tẹ̄, suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Portuguese
Suffix
-ite f (noun-forming suffix, plural -ites)
- (pathology) -itis (forms the names of diseases characterised by inflammation)
- (geology, Portugal) -ite (forms the names of rocks and minerals)
- Synonyms: (Brazil) -ita, (less common) -ito