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-ite

-ite

-ite

1 
a suffix of nouns denoting especially persons associated with a place, tribe, leader, doctrine, system, etc. (Campbellite; Israelite; laborite); minerals and fossils (ammonite; anthracite); explosives (cordite; dynamite); chemical compounds, especially salts of acids whose names end in -ous (phosphite; sulfite); pharmaceutical and commercial products (vulcanite); a member or component of a part of the body (somite).
Compare -itis.

Origin:
Middle English < Latin -ita < Greek -itēs; often directly < Greek; in some words representing French -ite, German -it, etc. < Latin < Greek, as above

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-ite is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged

-ite

2 
a suffix forming adjectives and nouns from adjectives, and from some verbs: composite; opposite; erudite; requisite.
Origin:
< Latin -itus or -ītus past participle suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
-ite1
 
—suffix forming nouns
1.  a native or inhabitant of: Israelite
2.  a follower or advocate of; a member or supporter of a group: Luddite; labourite
3.  (in biology) indicating a division of a body or organ: somite
4.  indicating a mineral or rock: nephrite; peridotite
5.  indicating a commercial product: vulcanite
 
[via Latin -ita from Greek -itēs or directly from Greek]

-ite2
 
—suffix forming nouns
indicating a salt or ester of an acid having a name ending in -ous: a nitrite is a salt of nitrous acid
 
[from French, arbitrary alteration of -ate1]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

-ite 1
suff.

  1. A part of an organ, body, or bodily part: somite.

  2. Product: metabolite.

-ite 2
suff.
A salt or ester of an acid named with an adjective ending in -ous: sulfite.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
-ite  

  1. A suffix used to form the names of minerals, such as hematite and malachite.

  2. A suffix used to form the name of a salt or ester of a specified acid whose name ends in -ous. Such salts or esters have one oxygen atom fewer than corresponding salts or esters with names ending in -ate. For example, a nitrite is a salt of nitrous acid and contains the group NO2, while a nitrate contains NO3. Compare -ate.


The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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