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-ite

 - 7 dictionary results

-ite

1 
Use -ite in a Sentence
a suffix of nouns denoting esp. persons associated with a place, tribe, leader, doctrine, system, etc. (Campbellite; Israelite; laborite); minerals and fossils (ammonite; anthracite); explosives (cordite; dynamite); chemical compounds, esp. 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:
ME < L -ita < Gk -itēs; often directly < Gk; in some words repr. F -ite, G -it, etc. < L < Gk, as above

-ite

2 
a suffix forming adjectives and nouns from adjectives, and from some verbs: composite; opposite; erudite; requisite.
Origin:
< L -itus or -ītus ptp. suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To -ite
-ite 1  
suff.  

  1. Native or resident of: New Jerseyite.

    1. Descendant of: Levite.

    2. Adherent or follower of: Luddite.

    3. Rock; mineral: graphite.

    4. Fossil: trilobite.

    5. Product: metabolite.

    6. A commercial product: ebonite.

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

    1. Rock; mineral: graphite.

    2. Fossil: trilobite.

    3. Product: metabolite.

    4. A commercial product: ebonite.

    1. Product: metabolite.

    2. A commercial product: ebonite.


[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin -ītēs, -īta, from Greek -ītēs.]
-ite 2  
suff.  A salt or ester of an acid named with an adjective ending in -ous: sulfite.

[Alteration of -ate2.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
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.
Cite This Source
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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