-ite

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).

Origin of -ite

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

Compare -itis.

Words Nearby -ite

Other definitions for -ite (2 of 2)

-ite²

a suffix forming adjectives and nouns from adjectives, and from some verbs: composite; opposite; erudite; requisite.

Origin of -ite

<Latin -itus or -ītus past participle suffix

Dictionary.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.
Tinder’s Celebrity VIP Club | Charlotte Lytton | March 17, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
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 Harris
The 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 Hope
Here 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.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 1 | Various

British Dictionary definitions for -ite (1 of 2)

-ite¹

suffix forming nouns

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

via Latin -ita from Greek -itēs or directly from Greek

British Dictionary definitions for -ite (2 of 2)

-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

Origin of -ite

from French, arbitrary alteration of -ate 1

Collins 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

-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.

Browse