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-osis

  1. a suffix occurring in nouns that denote actions, conditions, or states ( hypnosis; leukocytosis; osmosis ), especially disorders or abnormal states ( chlorosis; neurofibromatosis; tuberculosis ).


-osis

suffix forming nouns

  1. indicating a process or state

    metamorphosis

  2. indicating a diseased condition Compare -iasis

    tuberculosis

  3. indicating the formation or development of something

    fibrosis

“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


–osis

  1. A suffix that means:
  2. Diseased condition, as in tuberculosis.
  3. Condition or process, as in osmosis.


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Word History and Origins

Origin of -osis1

On the model of Greek borrowings ending in Greek -ōsis, as sklērōsis sclerosis, derived originally from verbs ending in the formative -o- ( -ō- in noun derivatives), with the suffix -sis -sis
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Word History and Origins

Origin of -osis1

from Greek, suffix used to form nouns from verbs with infinitives in -oein or -oun
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Example Sentences

The surgeons had called it something ending in osis and prescribed finally "light duty."

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