Suffixes of Quality

The English language is full of prefixes (add-ons at the beginning of words) and suffixes (add-ons at the end of words). Even the word 'beginning' shown here has the suffix 'ing'.

Here is a rather long list of the many types of suffixes you will see:


Suffixes attached to words to refer to a quality of being or a state or condition include the following:
-acity: perspicacity, capacity
-an: partisan, urban
-ance: attendance, balance
-ate: apostate, reprobate
-cracy: democracy, theocracy
-cy: residency, privacy
-dom: kingdom, wisdom
-ence: sentience, abscence
-ern: western, cavern
-ery: bravery, effrontery
-escence: effervescence, adolescence
-ese: legalese, Chinese
-esque: burlesque, grotesque
-ete: aesthete, athlete
-ette: kitchenette, cigarette
-ful: handful, earful
-gamy: monogamy, polygamy
-gon: pentagon, polygon
-hood: brotherhood, neighborhood
-ia: absentia, dementia
-ial: editorial, colonial
-ian: pediatrician, patrician
-ine: canine, feline
-ity: gravity, hilarity
-ization: organization, fertilization
-less: fearless, homeless
-let: inlet, booklet
-ling: underling, stripling
-ness: kindness, darkness
-ocity: velocity, ferocity
-oid: spheroid, humanoid
-phile: audiophile, bibliophile
-ship: fellowship, governership
-sion: discussion, dimension
-th: length, strength
-tion: station, attrition
-tude: attitude, fortitude
-ty: frailty, liberty
-ure: failure, closure

Words pertaining to medical or psychological conditions, or analogous states, often have one of the following suffixes:
-algia: neuralgia, nostalgia
-emia: anemia, hypogyclemia
-iasis: psoriasis, elephantiasis
-itis: appendicitis, tonsillitis
-oma: carcinoma, hematoma
-opia: myopia, hyperopia
-osis: neurosis, psychosis
-path: homeopath, sociopath
-plegia: paraplegia, quadriplegia
-pnea: apnea, orthopnea
-trophy: atrophy, dystrophy

Words denote a place where something specific occurs, or an entity with a certain responsibility, are augmented by the following suffixes:
-ary: aviary, military
-ium: auditorium, stadium
-ory: laboratory, observatory

Many words for types of ingredients or materials end with the following suffixes:
-ing: clothing, writing
-ings: seasonings, leavings

An action or a process or procedure, or a belief, is expressed in words with these suffixes:
-ade: blockade, promenade
-age: storage, patronage
-ism: racism, sexism
-ment: measurement, movement
-oscopy: arthroscopy, colonoscopy
-ure: pedicure, closure

Many words describing a person with a particular skill or vocation or who engages in a specific activity, or a person who or a thing that has a certain quality or purpose, end with this suffix:
-ac: maniac, hemophiliac
-ant: servant, applicant
-ar: burglar, liar
-ard: laggard, wizard
-arian: disciplinarian
-art: braggart, boggart
-ative: preservative, derivative
-crat: bureaucrat, aristocrat
-eer: engineer, volunteer
-ent: president, absorbent
-er:hanger, teacher
-ess: waitress, heiress
-ian: guardian, Italian
-ic: workaholic, alcoholic
-ist: therapist, dentist
-ite: parasite, dynamite
-or: doctor, translator

Note that -ess, which generally signifies a female practitioner (other examples are adventuress and poetess), is widely considered dated because it denotes an unnecessary distinction between genders. A female author, for example, is simply described as an author, not an authoress, and if her gender is pertinent, it may be referred to otherwise in written content.

Source: https://www.dailywritingtips.com/suffixes-of-quality/

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That should give you enough to think about as far as suffixes go but is case you are one of those people who really wants to get to understand what suffixes are all about, where they come from and why, you might enjoy the following: https://www.thoughtco.com/suffix-grammar-1692159

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