Greek Suffixes

term “symbiosis” means two or more organisms living together. “Symptom” means a falling

together or a sign.

GREEK SUFFIXES

A suffix is located at the end of the root word and may or may not be associated with a prefix.

The purpose of a suffix is to amplify or modify the meaning of the word. The two most

common suffixes in the Greek language are “-ia”, which in French is “-ie” and in English is “-y”.

These suffixes mean “a pathological state or condition”. Words used this way include

“hysteria”, which means a chronic neurosis that was once considered being uterine in origin.

The suffix “-iasis” means a pathological state, such as “lithiasis”, which means the formation of

stones or calculi, psoriasis, which means a pathological skin disease. The endings “-ikos”, “-

icus”, or “-ic” (in English) connotes an adjective. The term “anesthetic” means referring to or

pertaining to anesthesia. The term “epileptic” means referring to epilepsy.

The terms “-ismos” or “-ismus” or “-ism” denotes some type of condition. The term

“embolism” means the plugging of an artery or vein, while “hypnotism” is a condition of

artificially-caused sleep. The suffix “-istis” or “-ist” (in English) means a doer or agent of an

action. A “hypnotist” is the agent that causes “hypnosis” in an individual. The “anesthetist”

delivers anesthesia. The suffix “-itis” means a disease state or inflammation. It forms multiple

inflammatory words like “arthritis”, “bursitis”, and “conjunctivitis”. The suffix “-ize” means

treatment using a special instrument or drug. One word used with this suffix is “hypnotize”,

which means to put to sleep or into a hypnotic state. The suffixes “-ma” or “-ema” or -oma”

means a specific pathological condition. There are a number of words ending in “-oma”, which

usually indicate some type of pathological tumor. “Carcinoma” is a cancerous tumor and a

“granuloma” is a tumor of granulation tissue.

The suffix “-oid” was originally “-oeid”, which means the form or appearance of something that

resembles something else. “sphenoid” means wedge-shaped as “sphen-“ means wedge.

“Typhoid” means related to “typhus fever”. The suffix “-sis” or “-osis” means any production or

increase in something. It can be used interchangeably with “iasis”. “Tuberculosis” means an