Suffix
/ˈsʌf.ɪks/noun
A letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning or grammatical function.
Did you know?Its Latin ancestor *suffixus* comes from *sub-* (“under”) + *figere* (“to fasten”), so the original image is something physically pinned beneath another thing.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*dheigʰ-
“to fasten, fix”
Latin
Latin
figere
“to fasten, drive in, attach”
Latin
Latin
suffixus
“fastened underneath; appended below”
Late Middle English
English
suffixt
“added at the end; appended”
Modern English
English
suffix
“an ending added to a word”