-ous

-ous

See also: ous and -ouš

English

Alternative forms

• -ious
• -tous
• -uous

Etymology

From Middle English -ous, from Old French -ous, -eux, from Latin -ōsus (“full, full of”). Doublet of -ose and -wise in unstressed position.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /-əs/

• Audio (southern England)

  (file)

Suffix

-ous

1. Used to form adjectives from nouns, to denote:
   1. possession of

      ‎bulb + ‎-ous → ‎bulbous

   2. presence of a quality in any degree (typically abundance of)

      ‎courage + ‎-ous → ‎courageous

      ‎joy + ‎-ous → ‎joyous

      ‎poison + ‎-ous → ‎poisonous

      ‎riot + ‎-ous → ‎riotous

   3. relation or pertinence to

      ‎aptonym + ‎-ous → ‎aptonymous

      ‎arrhenotoky + ‎-ous → ‎arrhenotokous

2. (chemistry) Used in chemical nomenclature to name chemical compounds in which a specified chemical element has a lower oxidation number than in the equivalent compound whose name ends in the suffix -ic. For example sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄) has more oxygen atoms per molecule than sulphurous acid (H₂SO₃). See Inorganic nomenclature.

Synonyms

• -y
• (possession of): -ate

Derived terms

English terms suffixed with -ous

Related terms

• -osity
• -ose

Translations

Note: Translations of English words ending in -ous do not necessarily end in the suffixes listed below.

suffix to form adjectives

Arabic: ـِيّ‎ (ar) (-iyy) Aromanian: -os m or n, -osu m or n, -oasã f Asturian: -osu Catalan: -ós (ca) m, -osa (ca) f Emilian: -ōś m, -óśa f Finnish: -inen (fi) French: -eux (fr) m, -euse (fr) f Friulian: -ôs Galician: -oso (gl) m, -osa f German: -haft (de), -ös (de) Hindi: -आना (-ānā) Hungarian: -s (hu)/-os (hu)/-as (hu)/-es/-ös Ido: -oza Italian: -oso (it) m, -osa f Latin: -osus (la) m, -osa f, -osum n Norwegian: -øs (no) Occitan: -ós Polish: -y (pl) m, -awy (pl) m, -ny (pl) m Portuguese: -oso (pt) Romanian: -os (ro) m or n, -oasă f Russian: -о́зный (-óznyj), -ный (-nyj) Sardinian: -osu, -ossu Sicilian: -usu, -osu Spanish: -oso (es), -udo (es) Venetian: -oxo, -óxo

chemical compounds in which a specified chemical element has a lower oxidation number

Galician: -oso (gl) m Hungarian: -s (hu)/-os (hu)/-as (hu)/-es/-ös Japanese: 亜 (ja) (a-) Russian: -истый (-istyj) Spanish: -oso (es)

See also

• -ness
• -hood
• -ship
• -itas
• -itude
• -th
• -ia
• -itia
• -ity
• -ability
• -ibility
• -icity

Anagrams

• OSU, Sou, USO, sou

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• -os, -ose, -ouse, -ows, -owse, -us, -ws

Etymology

From Old French -ous, -us, -eus, from Latin -ōsus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /-ˈuːs/, /-us/

Suffix

-ous

1. Forms adjectives from nouns or verbs, especially if of Romance origin.

Derived terms

Middle English terms suffixed with -ous

Descendants

• English: -ous

References

• “-ǒus, suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

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Old French

Suffix

-ous

1. Alternative form of -us