-ite
1a 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).
Origin of -ite
1- Compare -itis.
Words Nearby -ite
Other definitions for -ite (2 of 2)
a suffix forming adjectives and nouns from adjectives, and from some verbs: composite; opposite; erudite; requisite.
Origin of -ite
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use -ite in a sentence
“Verification is an awful idea,” says 21-year-old student and social media-ite Emi Suzuki.
Well, ef she aint de beatenes' w'ite 'oman dis side er kingdom come, you kin des shoot me.
Nights With Uncle Remus | Joel Chandler HarrisThe Ky-ro-ite landlord perhaps thought he ought to be well compensated for keeping a hotel in such a place.
Lincolniana | Andrew Adderup"You can't cut no pigeon wing, w'ite boy," said 'Lias, Mammy's grandson.
Six Little Bunkers at Mammy June's | Laura Lee HopeHere is matrix opal, and here are numbers of strange-hued, crystalline gems with names all ending in "ite."
Greenwich Village | Anna Alice Chapin
An acid terminating in -ous forms a salt ending in -ite, and an oxyacid ending in -ic forms a salt ending in -ate.
British Dictionary definitions for -ite (1 of 2)
a native or inhabitant of: Israelite
a follower or advocate of; a member or supporter of a group: Luddite; labourite
(in biology) indicating a division of a body or organ: somite
indicating a mineral or rock: nephrite; peridotite
indicating a commercial product: vulcanite
Origin of -ite
1British Dictionary definitions for -ite (2 of 2)
indicating a salt or ester of an acid having a name ending in -ous: a nitrite is a salt of nitrous acid
Origin of -ite
2Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for -ite
A suffix used to form the names of minerals, such as hematite and malachite.
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 © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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