Noun suffixes in English
Suffix
A suffix is a letter or a group of letters attached to the end of a word to alter the grammatical function of the original word or to form a new word.
1: Inflectional suffixes
An inflection that is added at the end of a *root word to express a grammatical function or attribute such as tense, mood, person, number, case, and gender.
Inflectional suffixes do not change the essential meaning of the original word.
Root
The root word is the primary lexical unit of a word, and of a word family (root is then called base word), which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content andcannot be reduced into smaller constituents.
; A morpheme
2: Derivational suffixes
Derivational suffixes are used to make (or derive) new words, often of a different part of speech.
For example, the verb "read" can be made into the noun reader by adding the suffix -er;read can be made into the adjective readable by adding the suffix -able.
List of noun suffixes
-al (noun)
Meaning:
: Forming nouns, especially of verbal action.
Example:
denial, refusal, trial, arrival, proposal, rival, removal, reversal
-ary (noun)
Meaning:
: person or thing belonging to, connected with, or engaged in
Example:
functionary, ovary, dictionary, military, dormitory, vocabulary, anniversary, commentary, accessary, adversary, diary, glossary, judiciary, library, salary, sanctuary, seminary, summary
-ful (noun)
Meaning:
Forming nouns denoting the amount needed to fill the specified container, holder,etc..
Example:
roomful, cupful, mouthful, bowlful, handful
-ic (noun)
Meaning:
: one having the character or nature of
: one belonging to or associated with
: one exhibiting or affected by
: one that produces .
Example:
lyric, mechanic, critic, logic, music, public, rhetoric, comic, chic, clinic, epic
-ance, -ence, -ancy
Meaning:
: Added to the stem of a verb to form a noun indicating a state or condition, such as result or capacity, associated with the verb.
: A process or action.
Example:
maintenance, eminence, assistance, allowance, defiance, prominence, distance, brilliancy, compliancy, constancy, elegancy, vacancy, independence, performance, emergence, reference, guidance
-dom
Meaning:
: denoting a state or condition
: denoting rank or status
: denoting domain
: denoting a class of people or the attitudes associated with them, regarded collectively
Example:
freedom, dukedom, kingdom, officialdom, Christendom, boredom, wisdom
-er, -or
Meaning:
:denoting a person, animal, or thing that performs a specified action or activity.
:denoting a person or thing that has a specified attribute or form.
:denoting a person concerned with a specified thing or subject.
:denoting a person belonging to a specified place or group.
Example:
learner, baker, fisher, writer, runner, farmer, sprinkler, foreigner , two-wheeler, philosopher, New Yorker, Londoner, sponsor, outsider, danger, highlander, diner, twitter
-ism
Meaning:
: denoting an action or its result
: denoting a state or quality
: denoting a system, principle, or ideological movement
: denoting a basis for prejudice or discrimination
: denoting a peculiarity in language
: denoting a pathological condition
Example:
criticism, racism, alcoholism, Buddism, Protestantism, stoicism, communism, capitalism, feminism
-ist
Meaning:
: denoting an adherent of a system of beliefs, principles, etc., expressed by nouns ending in - ism
: denoting a member of a profession or business activity
Example:
socialist, realist, chemist, novelist, Marxist, guitarist, violinist, racist, Buddhist, psychiatrist
-ity, -ty
Meaning:
: forming nouns denoting quality, state, degree or condition.
Example:
activity, ability, Christianity, community, normality, priority, humanity, necessity, beauty, royalty, loyalty, forty, fifty
-ment
Meaning:
: forming nouns expressing the means or result of an action
: forming nouns from adjectives
Example:
argument, element, government, amazement, contentment, commitment, treatment, entertainment, development, document, movement, payment, compliment, segment
-ness
Meaning:
: state
: condition
: quality
: degree
Example:
goodness, happiness, heaviness, sadness, kindness, wildness, ruthlessness, tiredness, business, carelessness, uselessness
-ship
Meaning:
a suffix placed after a noun indicating the state of being that the noun means.
Example:
friendship, membership, horsemanship, fellowship, leadership, relationship, dictatorship
-sion, -tion, -ion
Meaning:
Used to form nouns meaning "the action of (a verb)" or "the result of (a verb)"
forming nouns of action, condition, etc .
Example:
action, function, confession, connection, transition, initiation, relation, compilation, combination, introduction, direction, nation, portion, fashion, fiction, condition, temptation, suggestion, negotiation
-age
Meaning:
: denoting an action
: the product of an action
: a function; a sphere of action
: denoting an aggregate or number of
: denoting a place or abode
Example:
leverage, voyage, page, mileage, percentage, coverage, language, baggage, laggage, passage, postage, teenage, village, voltage, underage, footage
-ure
Meaning:
: denoting an action, process, or result : : denoting an office or function : denoting a collective
Example:
exposure, legislature, judicature, picture, creature, culture, nature, censure, structure, measure, failure, temperature, scripture, sculpture, adventure, leisure
-ate (noun)
Meaning:
: one acted upon
: denoting a salt or ester, esp. of an acid with a corresponding name ending in -ic
: denoting a group
Example:
distillate, nitrate, carbonate, state, advocate, mandate, senate, consulate, consulate, senate, affiliate
-le
Meaning:
: forming names of appliances or instruments
: forming names of animals and plants
: forming nouns having or originally having a diminutive sense (also -el)
Example:
icicle, popsicle, tunnel, shovel, battle, castle, bottle, tickle, apple, buckle, puzzle, sole
-ia, -ica, -ana
Meaning:
: forming nouns adopted unchanged from Latin or Greek (such as mania, militia), and modern Latin or Greek terms
: forming names of Medicine states and disorders
: forming names of genera and higher groups
: forming names of countries
: (-ica) a collection of things that relate to a specific place, person, theme, etc.
Example:
mania, militia, utopia, erotica, hysteria, amnesia, malaria, dyslexia, dahlia, artemisia, camelia, Eurasia, Asia, Australia, America, Africa, Antartica, Africana, Victoriana, Mariana, India, Colombia, Romania
-ade
Meaning:
: denoting an action that is completed
: denoting the body concerned in an action or process
: denoting the product or result of an action or process
: Indicating a drink made from a given fruit
Example:
barricade, lemonade, limeade, marmalade, parade, promenade, arcade, brigade
-ant, -ent (noun)
Meaning:
: one that performs (a specified action)
: personal or impersonal agent
: thing that promotes
: one connected with
: thing acted upon
Example:
coolant, stimulant, pendant, tyrant, immigrant, inhabitant, attendant, claimant, giant, assistant, servant, resident, regent, agent, deterrent, coefficient recipient
-cy
Meaning:
: denoting state or condition
: denoting rank or status
Example:
bankruptcy, solvency, accuracy, adequacy, obstinacy, currency, legacy, agency, diplomacy, literacy, independency, mercy, presidency, captaincy, consultancy
-ee
Meaning:
: denoting the person affected directly or indirectly by the action of the formative verb
: denoting a person described as or concerned with
: denoting an object of relatively smaller size
Example:
appointee, addressee, standee, employee, absentee, refugee, trainee, nominee, grantee
-logy
Meaning:
: A branch of learning; a study of a particular subject.
: Something said, or a way of speaking, a narrative.
Example:
biology, geology, psychology, ethnology, mythology, theology, philology, eulogy, tautology, trilogy, apology
-ite (noun)
Meaning:
: forming names denoting natives of a country
: used in scientific and technical terms
: product
: adherent
Example:
Israelite, Semite, dynamite, graphite, somite, appetite, ammonite
-ine (noun)
Meaning:
: chemical substance
: feminine nouns
: commercial material
: forming chiefly abstract nouns and diminutives
Example:
cocaine, caffeine, chlorine, aniline, gasoline, vaseline, glassine, heroine, Josephine, doctrine, medicine, discipline
-ide, -id,-oid (noun)
Meaning:
: Forming nouns from Latin or Greek roots, including certain plant names modelled on Latin sources
: binary chemical compound
: one belonging to a (specified) dynastic line
: meteor associated with or radiating from a (specified) constellation or comet
Example:
pyramid, android, humanoid, steroid, hydride, chloride, cyanide, caucasoid, Mongoloid, Negroid, Australoid
-sis, -osis
Meaning:
: Used to form the names of any functional disorder of various parts of the body
: denoting a process or condition
Example:
diagnosis, hypnosis, metamorphosis, psychokinesis, telekinesis, psychosis, neurosis, leukosis, genesis, osmosis, mitosis
-et, -ette
Meaning:
: denoting relatively small size
: denoting an imitation or substitute
: denoting female gender
: forming nouns such as comet, and often denoting people.
Example:
bullet, fillet, gadget, widget, tablet, cigarette, statuette, kitchenette, diskette, jacket, duet, leatherette
-tude, -itude
Meaning:
: forming abstract nouns
: state of
Example:
attitude, solitude, gratitude, aptitude, latitude, longitude, magnitude, fortitude, servitude
More suffixes → http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:English_suffixes