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suffix

noun, verb — 4 senses

suffix

noun

/ˈsʌfɪks/

Etymology Borrowed from Latin suffīxus (“suffix”), from sub- (“under”) + fīxus (perfect passive participle of fīgere (“to fasten, fix”)), equivalent to sub- + -fix.

1

Grammar, Human sciences, Linguistic morphology, Linguistics, Morphology, Sciences A morpheme added at the end of a word to modify the word's meaning.

  • The suffix "-able" changes "sing" into "singable".
  • The praenomen and nomen for the most part consisted of simple stems with the suffix -us or -ius, […]1945, E[lizabeth] G[idley] Withycombe, “Introduction”, in The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page xiv:
1 more example
  • Before I simply create a root meaning X, is there any way I can use Ithkuil morphological categories or the 150 or so suffix categories to derive this word from a more general or primary word? […] In other words, the writer would not write or “key” a certain Ithkuil symbol, but rather would select a particular root from a database and identify the particular forms of the 22 morphological categories which apply to the root as well as any suffixes.2006, “Ithkuil Q & A”, in The Conlanger's Library, archived from the original on 14 Jan 2025, pages 3, 6:
2

Mathematics, Sciences A subscript.

3

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A final segment of a string of characters.

  • The string "abra" is both a prefix and a suffix of the string "abracadabra".
Derived terms
derivational suffix, inflectional suffix, null suffix, possessive suffix, semisuffix, suffixable, suffixal, suffixation, suffixhood, suffixive, suffixless, suffixlike, suffixness, testaceology, zero suffix

suffix

verb

/səˈfɪks/

Etymology Borrowed from Latin suffīxus (“suffix”), from sub- (“under”) + fīxus (perfect passive participle of fīgere (“to fasten, fix”)), equivalent to sub- + -fix.

1

To append (something) to the end of something else.

Related terms
affix, crucifixion, fix, fixation, infix, postfix, prefix, suffixal, suffixion, suffix tree

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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