-ite

-ite ¹

suff.

1. Native or resident of: New Jerseyite.

2.

a. Descendant of: Levite.

b. Adherent or follower of: Luddite.

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

4.

a. Rock; mineral: graphite.

b. Fossil: trilobite.

5.

a. Product: metabolite.

b. A commercial product: ebonite.

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[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin -ts, -ta, from Greek -ts.]

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-ite ²

suff.

A salt or ester of an acid named with an adjective ending in -ous: sulfite.

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[Alteration of -ate.]

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-ite¹

suffix forming nouns

1. a native or inhabitant of Israelite

2. a follower or advocate of; a member or supporter of a group Luddite labourite

3. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Biology) indicating a division of a body or organ somite

4. (Earth Sciences / Geological Science) indicating a mineral or rock nephrite peridotite

5. (Business / Commerce) indicating a commercial product vulcanite

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

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-ite²

suffix forming nouns

(Chemistry) indicating a salt or ester of an acid having a name ending in -ous a nitrite is a salt of nitrous acid

[from French, arbitrary alteration of -ate¹]

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-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.

Translations

-ite

n suf (= follower of) → -anhänger(in) m(f); Blairite → Blair-Anhänger(in) m(f)