word-forming element from Latin pathicus, from Greek pathikos "suffering, remaining passive," from pathein "to suffer" (from PIE root *kwent(h)- "to suffer").

word-forming element meaning "eater," from stem of Greek phagein "to eat," from PIE root *bhag- "to share out, apportion; to get a share."

before vowels phil-, word-forming element meaning "loving, fond of, tending to," from Greek philos (adj.) "dear, loved, beloved," as a noun, "friend," from philein "to love, regard with affection," a word of unknown origin. Productive of a great many compounds in ancient Greek (such as philokybos "a lover of dice-play"). Opposed to miso-. Compare -phile.

word-forming element meaning "twisted, spiraled, whorled," from combining form of Latin spira "a coil, twist," from Greek speira (see spiral (adj.)).

word-forming element meaning "marriage" in anthropology and "fertilization" in biology, from Greek -gamia, from gamos "marriage" (see gamete).

word-forming element meaning "knowledge," from Old French -sophie, from Latin -sophia, from Greek -sophia, from sophia "skill, wisdom, knowledge" (see Sophia).

element active in English word formation from mid-18c. and meaning "star or celestial body; outer space," from Greek astro-, stem and combining form of astron "star," which is related to aster "star," from PIE root *ster- (2) "star." In ancient Greek, aster typically was "a star" and astron mostly in plural, "the stars." In singular it mostly meant "Sirius" (the brightest star).

word-forming element meaning "large, great, exaggerated," from combining form of Greek megas "large, great" (stem megal-), from PIE root *meg- "great."

before vowels, xer-, word-forming element meaning "dry," from Greek xero-, combining form of xeros "dry, withered" (see xerasia).

word-forming element meaning "a growth, a development; something molded," from Greek -plasma, from plasma "something molded or created" (see plasma).