Online Etymology Dictionary

-ability: suffix expressing ability, fitness, or capacity, from L. -abilitas, forming nouns from adjs. ending in -abilis (see -able). Not etymologically related to ability, though popularly connected with it.
-able: suffix expressing ability, capacity, fitness, from Fr., from L. -ibilis, -abilis, forming adjectives from verbs, from PIE *-tro-, a suffix used to form nouns of instrument. In L., infinitives in -are took -abilis, others -ibilis; in Eng., -able is used for native words, -ible for words of obvious L. origin. 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: suffix denoting orders and classes in zoology, from L. -acea, neut. pl. of -aceus "belonging to, of the nature of" (enlarged from adj. suffix -ax, gen. -acis); neut. pl. 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. pl. of -aceus, with reference to L. plantae, which is a fem. plural.
-ad: suffix denoting collective numerals (cf. Olympiad), from Gk. -as (gen. -ados), a suffix forming fem. nouns; also used in fem. patronymics (Dryad, Naiad, also, in plural, Pleiades, Hyades).
-ade: suffix denoting an action or product of an action, from L. -ata (Fr. -ade, Sp. -ada, It. -ata), fem. pp. ending used in forming nouns. A living prefix in Fr., from which many words have come into Eng. (e.g. lemonade). Latin -atus, pp. suffix of verbs of the 1st conjugation also became -ade in Fr. (Sp. -ado, It. -ato) and came to be used as a suffix denoting persons or groups participating in an action (e.g. brigade).
-ado: in commando, desperado, tornado,, and other words of Sp. and Port. origin, "person or group participating in an action," from L. -atus, pp. suffix of verbs of the first conjugation (cf. -ade).
-ae: occasional plural suffix of words ending in -a, most of which, in Eng., are from L. nom. fem. sing. nouns, which in L. form their plurals in -ae. But plurals in -s were established early in Eng. for many of them (e.g. idea, arena) and many have crossed over since. It is now impossible to insist on purity one way or the other without creating monstrosities.
-age: suffix forming nouns of act, process, function, condition, from O.Fr./Fr. -age, from L.L. -aticum "belonging to, related to," originally neut. adj. suffix, from L. -atus, pp. suffix of verbs of the first conjugation.
-aholic: abstracted from alcoholic first in sugarholic (1965), later in workaholic (1968), golfaholic (1971), chocoholic (1976), and shopaholic (1984).
-al (1): suffix forming adjectives from nouns or other adjectives, "of, like, related to," M.E. -al, -el, from O.Fr. or directly from L. -alis (see -al (2)).
-al (2): suffix forming nouns of action from verbs, mostly from Latin and French, meaning "act of ______ing" (e.g. survival, removal), M.E. -aille, from Fr. fem. sing. -aille, from L. -alia, neut. pl. of adj. suffix -alis, also used in English as a noun suffix. Nativized in English and used with Germanic verbs (e.g. bestowal, betrothal).
-algia: suffix denoting "pain," from Gk. 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, denoting a compound obtained by replacing one hydrogen atom in ammonia with an element or radical, from Fr. amide, from am(monia) + -ide; coined by Fr. chemist Charles-Adolphe Wurtz (1817-1884).
-ance: suffix attached to verbs to form abstract nouns of process or fact (convergence from converge), or of state or quality (absence from absent); ult. from L. -antia and -entia, which depended on the vowel in the stem word. 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: suffix denoting quality or state, from L. -antia, forming abstract nouns on pp. adjs. in -antem, appearing in Eng. mostly in words borrowed directly from Latin (those passing through Fr. usually have -ance or -ence; see -ance).
-ane: in chemical use, proposed 1866 by August Wilhelm von Hofmann to go with -ene, -ine, -one.
-archy: suffix meaning "rule," from L. -archia, from Gk. -arkhia, from arkhos "leader, chief, ruler," from arkhe "beginning, origin, first place" (see archon).
-ard: also -art, from O.Fr. -ard, -art, from Ger. -hard, -hart "hardy," often forming the second element in personal names, used as an intensifier, but in M.H.G. and Du. used as a pejorative element in common nouns, and thus passing into M.E. in bastard, coward, etc. It thus became a living element in English, e.g. buzzard, drunkard.
-ary: adj. and n. suffix, in most cases from L. -arius, -arium "connected with, pertaining to, the man engaged in." IT appears in words borrowed from L. in M.E. In later borrowings from Latin to French, it became -aire and passed into M.E. as -arie, subsequently -ary.
-ase: suffix used in naming enzymes, from ending of diastase.
-aster: suffix expressing incomplete resemblance (e.g. poetaster), usually dim. and deprecatory, from L., from Gk. -aster, suffix originally forming nouns from verbs ending in -azein, later generalized as a pejorative suffix, e.g. patraster "he who plays the father."
-ate (1): suffix used in forming nouns from L. words ending in -atus, -atum (e.g. estate, primate, senate). Those that came to Eng. via O.Fr. and M.Fr. 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 L. past participals in -atus, -ata (e.g. desolate, moderate, separate), again, they often were adopted in M.E. as -at, with an -e appended after c.1400.
-ate (2): verbal suffix for L. verbs in -are. O.E. commonly made verbs from adjectives by adding a verbal ending to the word (e.g. gnornian "be sad, mourn," gnorn "sad, depressed"), but as the inflections wore off English words in late O.E. and M.E., there came to be no difference between the adj. and the verb in dry, empty, warm, etc. 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 L. pp. adjs. without changing their form (e.g. aggravate, substantiate) and thus it became the custom that L. verbs were Anglicized from their pp. stems.
-ation: suffix forming nouns of action; see -tion.
a (1): indefinite article, c.1150, a variation of O.E. 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 O.E. 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 It., "in the manner of the chapel," lit. "according to the chapel," from cappella "chapel." Originally in ref. to older church music (pre-1600) which was written for unaccompanied voices; applied 20c. to unaccompanied vocal music generally.
a la: from Fr. à la, "in the manner of;" used in Eng. in Fr. terms from fashion or cookery since late 16c.; used in native formations with Eng. words or names from c.1800 (first attested in Jane Austen).
a la carte: 1826, from Fr. à la carte, lit. "by the card" (see card (n.)); 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 Fr. à la mode (15c.), lit. "in the fashion" (see mode (2)). In 17c., sometimes nativized as all-a-mode. Cookery sense of a dessert served with ice cream is 1903, Amer.Eng.
a posteriori: Latin, literally "from what comes after" (see posterior).
a priori: 1710, "from cause to effect" (a logical term, in ref. to reasoning), from L., lit. "from what comes first," from priori, abl. 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 O.E.) words, it most commonly represents O.E. an "on" (see a (2)), as in alive, asleep, abroad, ashore, etc., forming adjectives and adverbs from nouns; but it also can be M.E. of, as in anew, abreast (1590s); or a reduced form of O.E. pp. prefix ge-, as in aware; or the O.E. intens. a-, as in arise, awake, ashame, marking a verb as momentary, a single event. In words from Romanic languages, often it represents L. 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 L. a-, short for ab "away from" (cf. avert), or its cognate, Gk. a-, short for apo "away from, from," both cognate with Skt. apa "away from," Goth. af, O.E. of.
a- (3): prefix meaning "not," from Gk. a-, an- "not," from PIE base *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).
A-frame: type of framework shaped like the letter A, 1909; in building construction, attested from 1932.
A-line: descriptive of a dress or skirt flared in shape of a letter "A," 1955, in ref. to Christian Dior.
A-list: in celebrity sense, 1984, from A in the sense of "first, best" (e.g. A-1) + list (n.).
A-OK: 1961, abbreviation of all (systems) OK, originally in the jargon of astronauts. See OK.
A.A.: abbreviation of Alcoholics Anonymous, attested by 1941, Amer.Eng. The group name was the title of a book published in 1938 by the founder, Bill W.
A.A.A.: abbreviation of American Automobile Association, attested 1902, Amer.Eng., the year the organization was founded.
A.D.: 1570s, from L. Anno Domini "Year of the Lord." First put forth by Dionysius Exiguus in 527 or 533 C.E., but at first used only for Church business. Introduced in Italy in 7c., France (partially) in 8c. In England, first found in a charter of 680 C.E. Ordained for all ecclesiastical documents in England by the Council of Chelsea, July 27, 816. The resistance to it may have been in part because Dionysius chose 754 A.U.C. as the birth year of Jesus, while many early Christians would have thought it was 750 A.U.C. [See John J. Bond, "Handy-Book of Rules and Tables for Verifying Dates With the Christian Era," 4th ed., London: George Bell & Sons, 1889]
a.k.a.: acronym for also known as; attested in legal documents from at least 1936.
A.M.: 1762, abbreviation of L. ante meridiem "before noon."
a.m.: type of radio wave broadcast; see amplitude.
A.P.R.: abbreviation of annual percentage rate, attested from 1979, Amer.Eng.
a.s.a.p.: "as soon as possible," 1955, originally U.S. Army slang.
A.V.: abbreviation of Authorized Version (of the English Bible, 1611) attested from 1868.