-ite

English

Etymology 1

From French -ite, from Old French, from Latin -ītēs, from Ancient Greek -ῑ́της (-ī́tēs).

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /-aɪt/

Suffix

-ite

1. (sometimes derogatory) Used to form nouns denoting followers or adherents of a specified person, idea, doctrine, movement, etc.

   Adamsite, Campbellite, Jacobite, laborite, Mansonite, Reaganite, Thatcherite

2. Used to form nouns denoting descendants of a specified historical person, especially a biblical figure.

   Cainite, Ephraimite, Hamite, Japhetite, Lamanite

   • 1830, Joseph Smith, Book of Mormon, translation of original by Mormon, 4 Nephi 1:17:

     There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God.

3. (chiefly US, India) Used to form demonyms.

   Brooklynite, Delhiite, Jerusalemite, Keralite, New Jerseyite, Seattleite, Seoulite, Sydneyite, Wisconsinite, Wyomingite; also see ashramite, hostelite

4. Used to form nouns denoting rocks or minerals.

   andalusite, anorthosite, anthracite, erythrite, forsterite, graphite, hawleyite, titanite

5. Used to form nouns denoting fossil organisms.

   ammonite, belemnite

6. (biology) Used to form nouns denoting segments or components of the body or an organ of the body.

   dendrite, somite

7. Used to form nouns denoting the product of a specified process or a commercially manufactured product.

   Bakelite, cordite, dynamite, ebonite, metabolite, vulcanite

8. (chemistry) Used to form names of certain chemical compounds, especially salts or esters of acids whose name ends in -ous.

   bromite, chlorite, iodite, phosphite, sulfite

Translations

Etymology 2

From Latin past participles in -ītus, of verbs in -īre, -ĕre, -ēre, partly via Old French.

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) either IPA^(key): /-aɪt/ or IPA^(key): /-ɪt/

Suffix

-ite

1. Forms adjectives.

See also

Anagrams

• EIT, ETI, TEI, tie

Afar

Etymology

Akin to Saho -ite.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /-iˈte/,

Suffix

-ité

1. Used to form captative verbs from nouns.

Derived terms

References

• E. M. Parker, R. J. Hayward (1985) An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN, page 242

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin -ītēs, from Ancient Greek -ίτης (-ítēs).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /it/

Suffix

-ite f (plural -ites)

1. (medicine) -itis

   ‎alvéole (“alveolus”) + ‎-ite → ‎alvéolite (“alveolitis”)

2. (mineralogy) -ite

   ‎pyro- (“pyro-”) + ‎-ite → ‎pyrite (“pyrite”)

Suffix

-ite m (plural -ites)

1. (chemistry) -ite

   ‎arsén(ique) (“arsenic”) + ‎-ite → ‎arsénite (“arsenite”)

Suffix

-ite m or f by sense (plural -ites)

1. -ite (follower of someone or something)

   ‎Adam (“Adam”) + ‎-ite → ‎adamite (“Adamite”)

   ‎Ali (“Ali”) + ‎-ite → ‎alaouite (“Alawite”)

2. -ite (person from a given location, especially in a historical context)

   ‎Israël (“Israel”) + ‎-ite → ‎Israélite (“Israelite”)

Suffix

-ite (plural -ites)

1. -ite (relating to following someone or something)

   ‎Anaximandre (“Anaximander”) + ‎-ite → ‎anaximandrite (“Anaximanderian”)

2. -ite (relating to a given location, especially in a historical context)

   ‎Israël (“Israel”) + ‎-ite → ‎israélite (“Israelite”)

Interlingua

Etymology

Borrowed from English -ite, French -ite, Italian -ita, Portuguese -ita/Spanish -ita, all ultimately from Latin -īta, , from Ancient Greek -ίτης (-ítēs).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈite/

Suffix

1=n

-ite

1. forms nouns from nouns, denoting a rock or mineral; -ite

   ‎ligno (“wood”) + ‎-ite → ‎lignite (“lignite”)

   ‎meteoro (“meteor”) + ‎-ite → ‎meteorite (“meteorite”)

   ‎Andalusia (“Andalusia”) + ‎-ite → ‎andalusite (“andalusite”)

Usage notes

• This suffix is not to be confused with -ita (“inhabitant, adherent”).

Derived terms

References

• Alexander Gode, Hugh E. Blair (1955) Interlingua: A Grammar of the International Language, →ISBN

Italian

Suffix

-ite f (plural -iti)

1. used with a stem to form the feminine plural past participle of regular -ire verbs
2. used with a stem to form the second-person plural present and imperative of regular -ire verbs
3. (mineralogy) -ite
4. (chemistry) -ite
5. (pathology) -itis

Derived terms

See also

• -osi

Anagrams

• tie', tiè

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈiː.teː/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈi.te/,

Suffix

-ītē

1. ablative/vocative singular of -ītēs

Middle English

Alternative forms

• -ete, -etee, -itee, -iteþ, -itie, -itye, -yte, -ytee, -ytie, -ythe, -ytye

Etymology

From Old French -ite, -ete, from Latin -itās, -itātem; compare -te.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /-iˈteː/, /-iteː/

Suffix

-ite

1. Synonym of -te

Usage notes

• Syncope sometimes results in the replacement of -ite with -te. For instance, trinte is sometimes found for trinite (“Trinity”).
• Conversely, learned influence may sometimes result in -te with -ite, especially when the word goes back to a Latin original with -itās. This is exemplified by the replacement of personalte (“personality”) with personalite in later Middle English (compare Latin persōnālitās).
• As in modern English, -ite tends to attract stress to the antepenultimate syllable, while -te leaves stress where it was on the root.

Derived terms

Descendants

• English: -ity
• Scots: -ity, -eety

References

• “-tẹ̄, suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

Suffix

-ite f (noun-forming suffix, plural -ites)

1. (pathology) -itis (forms the names of diseases characterised by inflammation)
2. (geology, Portugal) -ite (forms the names of rocks and minerals)

   Synonyms: (Brazil) -ita, (less common) -ito