Online Etymology Dictionary

-ability: word-forming element expressing ability, fitness, or capacity, from Latin -abilitas, forming nouns from adjectives ending in -abilis (see -able). Not etymologically related to ability, though popularly connected with it.
-able: word-forming element expressing ability, capacity, fitness, from French, from Latin -ibilis, -abilis, forming adjectives from verbs, from PIE *-tro-, a suffix used to form nouns of instrument.

In Latin, infinitives in -are took -abilis, others -ibilis; in English, -able tends to be used with native (and other non-Latin) words, -ible with words of obvious Latin origin (but there are exceptions). The Latin suffix is not etymologically connected with able, but it long has been popularly associated with it, and this has contributed to its survival as a living suffix. It is related to the second syllable of rudder and saddle.
-acea: word-forming element denoting orders and classes in zoology, from Latin -acea, neuter plural of -aceus "belonging to, of the nature of" (enlarged from adjectival suffix -ax, genitive -acis); neuter plural because of a presumed animalia, a neuter plural noun. Thus, crustacea "shellfish" are *crustacea animalia "crusty animals." In botany, the suffix is -aceae, from the fem. plural of -aceus, with reference to Latin plantae, which is a fem. plural.
-aceous: word-forming element denoting "belonging to, of the nature of," from Latin -aceus, enlarged form of adjectival suffix -ax (genitive -acis); see -acea. Especially in biology, "pertaining to X order of plants or animals."
-acious: adjectival word-forming element meaning "given to, inclined to, abounding in," from Latin -aci- (nominative -ax), noun ending used with verbal stems, + -ous.
-ad: word-forming element denoting collective numerals (Olympiad), plant families, and names of poems, from Greek -as (genitive -ados), a suffix forming fem. nouns; also used in fem. patronymics (Dryad, Naiad, also, in plural, Pleiades, Hyades).
-ade: word-forming element denoting an action or product of an action, from Latin -ata (source of French -ade, Spanish -ada, Italian -ata), fem. past participle ending used in forming nouns. A living suffix in French, from which many words have come into English (such as lemonade). Latin -atus, past participle suffix of verbs of the 1st conjugation also became -ade in French (Spanish -ado, Italian -ato) and came to be used as a suffix denoting persons or groups participating in an action (such as brigade, desperado).
-ado: in commando, desperado, tornado, and other words of Spanish and Portuguese origin, "person or group participating in an action," from Latin -atus, past participle suffix of verbs of the first conjugation (see -ade).
-ae: occasional plural suffix of words ending in -a, most of which, in English, are from Latin nominative fem. singular nouns, which in Latin form their plurals in -ae. But plurals in -s were established early in English for many of them (such as idea, arena) and many have crossed over since. Now it is not possible to insist on purity one way or the other without breeding monsters.
-age: word-forming element in nouns of act, process, function, condition, from Old French and French -age, from Late Latin -aticum "belonging to, related to," originally neuter adjectival suffix, from PIE *-at- (source of Latin -atus, past participle suffix of verbs of the first conjugation) + *-(i)ko-, secondary suffix forming adjectives (see -ic).
-aholic: word-forming element abstracted from alcoholic; first in sugarholic (1965), foodoholic (sic., 1965); later in workaholic (1968), golfaholic (1971), chocoholic (1971), and shopaholic (1984).
-al (1): suffix forming adjectives from nouns or other adjectives, "of, like, related to, pertaining to," Middle English -al, -el, from French or directly from Latin -alis (see -al (2)).
-al (2): suffix forming nouns of action from verbs, mostly from Latin and French, meaning "act of ______ing" (such as survival, referral), Middle English -aille, from French feminine singular -aille, from Latin -alia, neuter plural of adjective suffix -alis, also used in English as a noun suffix. Nativized in English and used with Germanic verbs (as in bestowal, betrothal).
-al (3): word-forming element in chemistry to indicate "presence of an aldehyde group" (from aldehyde). The suffix also is commonly used in forming the names of drugs, often narcotics (such as barbital), a tendency that apparently began in German and might have been suggested by chloral (n.).
-algia: word-forming element denoting "pain," from Greek algos "pain," algein "to feel pain," of unknown origin. Related to alegein "to care about," originally "to feel pain."
-amide: also amide, in chemical use, 1850, word-forming element denoting a compound obtained by replacing one hydrogen atom in ammonia with an element or radical, from French amide, from ammonia + -ide.
-an: word-forming element meaning "pertaining to," from Latin -anus, in some cases via French -ain, -en.
-ana: or ana, word-forming element denoting "collection of sayings, gossip, etc. connected with a person or place," early 18c., originally the neuter plural ending of Latin adjectives ending in -anus "pertaining to," from PIE adjectival suffix *-no-.
-ance: word-forming element attached to verbs to form abstract nouns of process or fact (convergence from converge), or of state or quality (absence from absent); ultimately from Latin -antia and -entia, which depended on the vowel in the stem word, from PIE *-nt-, adjectival suffix.

As Old French evolved from Latin, these were leveled to -ance, but later French borrowings from Latin (some of them subsequently passed to English) used the appropriate Latin form of the ending, as did words borrowed by English directly from Latin (diligence, absence).

English thus inherited a confused mass of words from French and further confused it since c. 1500 by restoring -ence selectively in some forms of these words to conform with Latin. Thus dependant, but independence, etc.
-ancy: word-forming element denoting quality or state, from Latin -antia, forming abstract nouns on past participle adjectives in -antem, appearing in English mostly in words borrowed directly from Latin (those passing through French usually have -ance or -ence; see -ance).
-ane: word-forming element in chemical use, indicating a chain of carbon atoms with no double bonds, proposed 1866 by German chemist August Wilhelm von Hofmann (1818-1892) to go with -ene, -ine (2), -one.
-ant: agent or instrumental suffix, from Old French and French -ant, from Latin -antem, accusative of -ans, present participle suffix of many Latin verbs.
-ar: word-formation element meaning "pertaining to, of the nature of," from Latin -arem, -aris "of the kind of, belonging to," a secondary form of -alis, dissimilated form used after syllables with an -l- (such as insularis for *insulalis, stellaris for *stellalis).
-arch: word-forming element meaning "a ruler," from Greek arkhos "leader, chief, ruler," from arkhe "beginning, origin, first place" (see archon).
-archy: word-forming element meaning "rule," from Latin -archia, from Greek -arkhia "rule," from arkhos "leader, chief, ruler," from arkhe "beginning, origin, first place" (see archon).
-ard: also -art, from Old French -ard, -art, from German -hard, -hart "hardy," forming the second element in many personal names, often used as an intensifier, but in Middle High German and Dutch used as a pejorative element in common nouns, and thus passing into Middle English in bastard, coward, blaffard ("one who stammers"), etc. It thus became a living element in English, as in buzzard, drunkard.
-ary: adjective and noun word-forming element, in most cases from Latin -arius, -aria, -arium "connected with, pertaining to; the man engaged in," from PIE relational adjective suffix *-yo- "of or belonging to." It appears in words borrowed from Latin in Middle English. In later borrowings from Latin to French, it became -aire and passed into Middle English as -arie, subsequently -ary.
-ase: word-forming element used in naming enzymes, from ending of diastase.
-ast: agential suffix, cognate with -ist, from French -ast, from Latin -asta, from Greek -astes.
-aster: word-forming element expressing incomplete resemblance (such as poetaster), usually diminutive and deprecatory, from Latin -aster, from a suffix forming nouns from verbs ending in Greek -azein; in later Latin generalized as a pejorative suffix, as in patraster "he who plays the father."
-ate (1): word-forming element used in forming nouns from Latin words ending in -atus, -atum (such as estate, primate, senate). Those that came to English via Old and Middle French often arrived with -at, but an -e was added after c. 1400 to indicate the long vowel. The suffix also can mark adjectives, formed from Latin past participals in -atus, -ata (such as desolate, moderate, separate), again, they often were adopted in Middle English as -at, with an -e appended after c. 1400.
-ate (2): verbal suffix for Latin verbs in -are, identical with -ate (1). Old English commonly made verbs from adjectives by adding a verbal ending to the word (such as gnornian "be sad, mourn," gnorn "sad, depressed"), but as the inflections wore off English words in late Old and early Middle English, there came to be no difference between the adjective and the verb in dry, empty, warm, etc. Thus accustomed to the identity of adjectival and verbal forms of a word, the English, when they began to expand their Latin-based vocabulary after c. 1500, simply made verbs from Latin past-participial adjectives without changing their form (such as aggravate, substantiate) and it became the custom that Latin verbs were anglicized from their past participle stems.
-ate (3): in chemistry, word-forming element used to form the names of salts from acids in -ic; from Latin -atus, -atum, suffix used in forming adjectives and thence nouns; identical with -ate (1).
The substance formed, for example, by the action of acetic acid (vinegar) on lead was described in the 18th century as plumbum acetatum, i.e. acetated lead. Acetatum was then taken as a noun meaning "the acetated (product)," i.e. acetate. [W.E. Flood, "The Origins of Chemical Names," London, 1963]
-athon: also -thon, word-forming element denoting prolonged activity and usually some measure of endurance, abstracted from marathon; for example walkathon (1931), skatathon (1933); talkathon (1948); telethon (1949).
-ation: word-forming element for making nouns of action; see -ion.
-ative: word-forming element meaning "of or related to; tending to," from Latin -ativus.
a (1): indefinite article, mid-12c., a variation of Old English an (see an) in which the -n- began to disappear before consonants, a process mostly complete by mid-14c. The -n- also was retained before words beginning with a sounded -h- until c. 1600; it still is retained by many writers before unaccented syllables in h- or (e)u-, but is now no longer normally spoken as such. The -n- also lingered (especially in southern England dialect) before -w- and -y- through 15c.
a (2): as in twice a day, etc., from Old English an "on," in this case "on each." The sense was extended from time to measure, price, place, etc. The habit of tacking a onto a gerund (as in a-hunting we will go) died out 18c.
a capella: 1876, earlier alla capella (1847), from Italian, "in the manner of the chapel," literally "according to the chapel," from cappella "chapel" (see chapel). Originally in reference to older church music (pre-1600) which was written for unaccompanied voices; applied 20c. to unaccompanied vocal music generally.
a deux: French, à deux, literally "for two" (see deuce).
a la: from French à la, "in the manner of;" used in English in French terms from fashion or cookery since late 16c.; used in native formations with English words or names from c. 1800 (first attested in Jane Austen).
a la carte: 1826, from French à la carte, literally "by the card" (see card (n.1)); in other words, "ordered by separate items." Distinguished from a table d'hôte, meal served at a fixed, inclusive price.
a la mode: 1640s, from French à la mode (15c.), literally "in the fashion" (see mode (n.2)). In 17c., sometimes nativized as all-a-mode. Cookery sense of a dessert served with ice cream is 1903, American English.
a posteriori: Latin, literally "from what comes after" (see posterior).
a priori: 1710, "from cause to effect" (a logical term, in reference to reasoning), Latin, literally "from what comes first," from priori, ablative of prior "first" (see prior (adj.)). Used loosely for "in accordance with previous knowledge" (1834).
A&P: U.S. grocery chain, originally The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, founded 1859 by George Huntington Hartford and George Gilman.
a- (1): in native (derived from Old English) words, it most commonly represents Old English an "on" (see a (2)), as in alive, asleep, abroad, afoot, etc., forming adjectives and adverbs from nouns; but it also can be Middle English of, as in anew, abreast (1590s); or a reduced form of Old English past participle prefix ge-, as in aware; or the Old English intensive a-, as in arise, awake, ashame, marking a verb as momentary, a single event. In words from Romanic languages, often it represents Latin ad- "to, at."
[I]t naturally happened that all these a- prefixes were at length confusedly lumped together in idea, and the resultant a- looked upon as vaguely intensive, rhetorical, euphonic, or even archaic, and wholly otiose. [OED]
a- (2): prefix meaning "not," from Latin a-, short for ab "away from" (as in avert); see ab-.
a- (3): prefix meaning "not," from Greek a-, an- "not," from PIE root *ne "not" (see un-).
A-1: in figurative sense of "first-rate," 1837, in Dickens; from Lloyd's of London designation for ships in first-class condition (with the letter referring to the condition of the ship and the number to that of the stores).