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List of English suffixes

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This is an incomplete list of suffixes in English:
suffix Meaning Samples
-able capable, can do usable, notable
-ad group triad, monad
-age forming a noun marriage, mileage
-agogy leading pedagogy, demagogy
-al aspect of nominal, focal, (compare -ality)
property (aspect, behaviour, proportionality, sexuality (see -al and -
-ality
condition) of ity)
-arch ruler, leader monarch, tetrarch
-archy rule, leadership gynarchy, anarchy
-athlon sporting event pentathlon, decathlon
concentration, oscillation, (compare
-ation state or concept of
with -ism)
-cede, -
go concede, succeed
ceed
-cele, -
body cavity mucocoel or mucocoele
coele, -coel
-cele tumor, hernia hydatidocele
-centesis puncturing amniocentesis, rachicentesis
-cephalic relating to the head anencephaly, macrocephaly
-chondrion small grainlike structure mitochondrion
-cide murder, killing agent suicide, vespacide, regicide
-city practice atrocity
-clude include, exclude, preclude
rule (in the context of rule by a king,
-cracy kakistocracy, democracy, androcracy
rule by the people, etc.)
-cy expressing the quality of an adjective peccancy, agency, idiocy
-cycle circle, cycle, unit of radio frequency epicycle, hydrocycle
-dom state or condition of freedom, kingdom
-duce bring, lead introduce, reduce, induce
-duct lead induct, conduct
-ectasia, -
stretching out brochiectasis, telangiectasia
ectasis
-ectomy surgical removal laryngectomy, vasectomy
-eme linguistic unit lexeme, phoneme, morpheme
-emia blood condition leukemia, anaemia
-enchyma cellular tissue mesenchyma, karyenchyma
-er changes verb to noun (see also -or) write, writer
-er male widower
-ergy work energy, synergy
-esque in the style of Pythonesque, Romanesque
-ess female actress, waitress, stewardess, priestess
-esthesis, -
sensation, feeling synesthesia, kinesthesis
esthesia
fuge, driving or travelling away
-fugal centrifugal
from, expelling
-ful full of, having some or much hopeful, useful
-fusion pour together transfusion, confusion, infusion
a scandal, often political (back-
-gate
formed from the Watergate scandal) Watergate, nipplegate
-gnosis knowing prognosis, diagnosis
-gon angle polygon, pentagon
-gress to walk, entrance digress, transgress, ingress
adjective form of only 2 or 3 nouns
-gry anger, hunger
in the English language
-hedron seat, face icosahedron, tetrahedron
-holic love, addiction alcoholic
state/condition of, a group sharing
-hood brotherhood
characteristics
-ible capable, can do (same as -able) incredible, terrible, visible
-ic (adjective) neurotic
-ics Technology Physics,Aerodynamics,Forensics
originally referring to a spike-like
-icle icicle, popsicle
formation
-id (categorical) property (aspect) of hominid, tepid (compare -al)
–ify or –fy to become, make basify, vilify
-illion large numbers million, billion
-ish sort of; approximately greenish, tallish
Protestantism, alcoholism, Buddhism,
-ism doctrine, act, practice, condition
southernism
-ist person dentist
-ista adept fashionista
-itis disease, inflammation hepatitis, gingivitis
-itude attitude, certitude
-ity expressing state or condition normality, formality, banality
-ium metallic element (exception: helium) sodium, Calcium
-ive make the noun an adjective defensive, aggressive
-ize or -ise to cause, to be, to become materialize, idolize
-izzle used for hip hop slang Americizzle
-ject throw (in, out, etc) inject, reject, eject
-join join disjoin, rejoin
-kinesis movement (ability thereof) telekinesis
-less lack of homeless, useless
diminutive, or denoting a relation to
-let ringlet, hamlet, anklet
some part of the body
smaller, younger, cuter or weaker
version of the noun root OR sharing
-ling darling, duckling, earthling, sapling
an identity or quality of the noun
root (e.g. as a follower)
-like, having the attributes of; In
modern English, primarily changes quick(adj) →quickly(adv), state(n) →
-ly adjectives to adverbs; also changes stately(adj), abashed(v) →
some nouns to adjectives and some abashedly(adv)
(past-tense) verbs to adverbs
-man person fireman, stateman
crystallomancy, bibliomancy,
-mancy divination by
necromancy
an irrational but irresistible motive kleptomania, megalomania,
-mania
for a belief or action mythomania
-meter or -
measuring device barometer, thermometer
metre
-metry measure symmetry, geometry, isometry
-mit send commit, emit, limit
-morphism form isomorphism, homomorphism
-nik Slavic origin; corresponds to "-er" otkaznik, beatnik
-ography
writing, description stenography, geography, ideogram
or -ogram
-oid resembling solenoid, hominoid
-ologist one who studies a scientific subject archaeologist
-ology study, science planetology, thyroidology, phthisiology
-ome subject of an "-omics" genome
-omics study of rules proteomics, economics
-onomy knowledge of astronomy
-onym name, word antonym, consonym, heteronym
-or changes verb to noun (see also -er) actor, governor
full of, like, given to; carbohydrates,
-ose verbose; globose
protein derivatives
process, action, formation, diseased
-osis mitosis, osmosis, ostosis, psychosis
condition
-ous adjectival suffix porous
-pend to hang impend, append, depend
-phagy, -
eating monophagy
phagia
-philia attraction hemophilia
-phobia fear acrophobia, mysophobia
-phone sound, audio; speaker of a language telephone, homophone; Anglophone
plant, used in botany to create terms
which categorise plants based on
-phyte therophyte, halophyte
their life-history, growth-form or
ecological preferences
-place place replace, displace
-plete to fill complete, deplete
-polis referring to city or big area Metropolis
-port to move or to carry import, export
-pose put propose, impose, depose
-potent (or
power omnipotent, equipotent, impotence
-potence)
impound, compound, expound,
-pound put
propound
-press, -
impress, repress, imprint, reprint
print
-proach near approach, reproach
-science knowing omniscience
from Greek skopos, view; instrument
-scope microscope, telescope
for viewing and observing spaces
-script written manuscript, transcript
-semble same, similar resemble, ensemble, assemble
-sert join assert, insert
-ship circle, state of being friendship, relationship, dictatorship
-side side aside, besides, inside
-sist stop, stand insist, resist, desist, persist, assist
-stan land, country Afghanistan
-ster people youngster, gangster
-struct pile, build construct, destruct, obstruct
-tail to cut detail, retail
-tain to hold retain, obtain, detain
-test witness detest, attest, protest
-th ordinal number, forming a noun tenth, millionth, growth
-tom/-tome part or segment dermatome
-tory history, repository
-tropism to turn phototropism
-us inflammation ulcus
-ville city, town from French Nashville
-vious obvious, envious
-volve roll involve, revolve, evolve
-voke to call invoke, revoke
-vore / -
to devour carnivore, herbivore
vorous
-ward/-
direction southward, inward, outward
wards
-ware software, stuff hardware, software, freeware
everywhere, nowhere, anywhere,
-where location
somewhere
-wise direction clockwise
-y having the quality of, inclined to runny, messy
The following are base words and are not technically suffixes:
 -emesis; vomiting; hematemesis, hyperemesis

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