-ite

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | 661 words | Copyright

-ite suffix corr. to F. -ite and Sp., It. -ito, G. -it — L. īta, -ītēs — Gr. ī́tēs, forming adjs. and sbs. with the sense ‘pert. to or connected with’, ‘member of’, as in hoplī́tēs HOPLITE, polī́tēs citizen (see POLITIC). There were many formations in Gr. on proper names; in LXX and N.T. and later Christian use this type was widely extended for the names of sects, heresies, etc., and in late L. and the mod. langs. the suffix has been used without limit for ‘follower, devotee, or admirer’, as in Jacobite, Shelleyite, Wycliffite.

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T. F. HOAD. "-ite." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "-ite." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-ite.html

T. F. HOAD. "-ite." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-ite.html

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