趣词首页 公众号 小程序

词根词缀:-ess

【来源及含义】Greek -issa > Late Latin -issa > Old French -esse > Middle English -esse: a suffix that forms nouns meaning a female +++, as in lioness, tigress, heiress, hostess, and sculptress

【相关描述】When -ess is added to a noun ending in -tor, -ter, the vowel before r is generally elided (eliminated or left out), as in actress (actor + -ess); and such a derivative with the ending -tress (often equivalent to French ) is usually considered a reduced form of Latin -trix, -tricem and popularly regarded as the equivalent of -tor + -ess.

In Middle English many words in -esse were adopted from French; such as, countess, duchess, mistress, and princess, or formed on nouns in -er; such as, enchantress and sorceress.

The suffix -ess is diminishing from English usage, with trends or tendencies toward avoiding any unnecessary references to gender or sexual categorizing (feminine or masculine.

The suffixes -er and -or are no longer gender-specific in modern English: an author or manager, like a doctor or writer, may be male or female, so the words authoress and manageress are considered redundant.

Some -ess words remain in use; for example, heiress and actress, although actor is being used more often now for both men and women.

【同源单词】actress, adulteress, adventuress, ancestress, auditress, aviatress

词根词缀:-itis

【来源及含义】Greek: a suffix; inflammation, burning sensation; by extension, disease associated with inflammation

【相关描述】This suffix has come to mean "inflammation of" but originally it meant "pertaining to" or "of the". The Greek word nosos ["disease"] was either expressed or understood, although it might not be included with the basic element. For example, bursitis nosos would mean "disease of the bursa".

【同源单词】actilnoneuritis, adenitis, adrenalitis, allergyrhinitis, angioitis, angiopancreatitis

词根词缀:tono-, -tonia, -tone, -tony, -tonic, -tonical (tension)

【来源及含义】Greek: tonos = tension, pressure

【相关描述】The element tono- is a combining form with the meanings "stretching", "tension", "tone", used in the formation of compound words.

The suffix element -tonia is a combining form with the meanings of "muscle tension" or "nerve tension"; as specified by the initial element: hypertonia; used also in the formation of words that denote more generally a personality type or personality disorder; for example, catatonia and somatotonia.

【同源单词】amyotonia, amyotonic, angiohypertonia, angiohypotonia, atonia, atonic