-itis

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See also: itis, and -ītis

English

Etymology

From New Latin -itis, from Ancient Greek -ῖτις (-îtis, pertaining to). This is the feminine form of adjectival suffix -ῑ́της (-ī́tēs). The English suffix derives from the feminine form due to its use with the feminine noun νόσος (nósos, disease), particularly with ἀρθρῖτις (νόσος) (arthrîtis (nósos), disease of the joints) (one of the earliest English borrowings from which the suffix was extracted and abstracted).[1] Humorous sense by generalization.

Pronunciation

Suffix

-itis (usually uncountable, plural sometimes -itides or rarely -itises)

  1. (pathology) Suffix denoting diseases characterized by inflammation, itself often caused by an infection.
  2. (humorous) Used to form the names of various fictitious afflictions or diseases.
    • What to Do About Senioritis: Make Your Senior Year Count, College Board. Accessed April 4, 2008.[2]

Usage notes

While most of the derived terms theoretically have plurals in -itides (from the Ancient Greek -ῑ́τῐδες (-ī́tides), plural of -ῖτῐς (-îtis)), -itises (the regularized English plural), or both, these forms are rarely used, as the derived terms are mass nouns, so their plurals are called for only when referring to types. For example, hepatitides or hepatitises as "types of hepatitis" have some currency in the medical literature, but most other such plurals do not. There is a tendency in formal writing to prefer the classical suffix (when a plural is invoked at all); a typical example is that for the plural of arthritis referring to various types of arthritis, only arthritides is standard.

Derived terms

pathology: diseases characterized by inflammation
humorous: fictional diseases

Descendants

Translations

References

  1. ^ -itis. Dictionary.com.
  2. ^ “What to Do About Senioritis: Make Your Senior Year Count”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)[1], 2018 November 26 (last accessed), archived from the original on 1 March 2009

Further reading

Anagrams

Catalan

Etymology

From New Latin -ītis, from Ancient Greek -ῖτις (-îtis).

Suffix

-itis f (noun-forming suffix, invariable)

  1. (pathology) -itis

Derived terms

Further reading

German

Pronunciation

Suffix

-itis f

  1. -itis

Derived terms

Interlingua

Etymology

Borrowed from English -itis, French -itis, Italian -ite, Portuguese -ite/Spanish -itis, Russian -ит (-it), all ultimately from New Latin -itis, from Ancient Greek -ῖτις (-îtis).

Pronunciation

Suffix

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-itis

  1. forms nouns from nouns, denoting an inflammitory disease; -itis
    appendice (appendix) + ‎-itis → ‎appendicitis (appendicitis)
    esophago (oesophagus) + ‎-itis → ‎esophagitis (oesophagitis)
    larynge (larynx) + ‎-itis → ‎laryngitis (laryngitis)

Derived terms

Category Interlingua terms suffixed with -itis not found

References

Latin

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek -ῖτις (-îtis, pertaining to).

Pronunciation

Suffix

-ītis f (genitive -ītidis); third declension

  1. (New Latin, pathology) -itis (suffix denoting diseases characterized by inflammation, itself often caused by an infection)
Declension

Third-declension noun.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

See -ītēs.

Pronunciation

Suffix

-ītīs

  1. dative/ablative plural of -ītēs

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from New Latin -ītis, from Ancient Greek -ῖτις (-îtis, pertaining to).

Suffix

-itis f (noun-forming suffix, plural -itis)

  1. (pathology) -itis (denotes diseases characterized by inflammation, itself often caused by an infection)
  2. (humorous) -itis (forms the names of various fictitious afflictions or diseases)

Derived terms

Further reading