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43 entries found.

word-forming element meaning "nature, natural, physical," from Greek physios "nature" (from PIE root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow").

-escent

word-forming element meaning "beginning, becoming, tending to be," from Latin -escentem (nominative -escens), ending of present participles of verbs in -escere.

-ee

word-forming element in legal English (and in imitation of it), representing the Anglo-French -é ending of past participles used as nouns (compare -y (3)). As these sometimes were coupled with agent nouns in -or, the two suffixes came to be used as a pair to denote the initiator and the recipient of an action.

Not to be confused with the French -ée that is a feminine noun ending (as in fiancée), which is from Latin -ata.

physico-

word-forming element meaning "physical, physically; natural," from Latinized form of Greek physikos "natural, physical, pertaining to nature" (from PIE root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow"). Compare physic.

-arch

word-forming element meaning "a ruler," from Greek arkhos "leader, chief, ruler," from arkhē "beginning, origin, first place," verbal noun of arkhein "to be the first," hence "to begin" and "to rule" (see archon).

oxy-

word-forming element meaning "sharp, pointed; acid," from Greek oxys "sharp, pungent" (from PIE root *ak- "be sharp, rise (out) to a point, pierce" ). Also used as a combining form of oxygen.

-ial

adjectival word-forming element, variant of -al (1) with connective -i-. From Latin -ialis, in which the -i- originally was from the stem of the word being attached but later came to be felt as connective.

glyco-

before vowels glyc-, word-forming element meaning "sweet," from Latinized combining form of Greek glykys, glykeros "sweet" (see gluco-). Used in reference to sugars generally. OED says a regular formation would be glycy-.

-archy

word-forming element meaning "rule," from Latin -archia, from Greek -arkhia "rule," from arkhos "leader, chief, ruler," from arkhē "beginning, origin, first place," verbal noun of arkhein "to be the first," hence "to begin" and "to rule" (see archon).

-stan

place-name element in Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc., from Persian -stan "country," from Indo-Iranian *stanam "place," literally "where one stands," from PIE *sta-no-, suffixed form of root *sta- "to stand, make or be firm."

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