| -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. [Middle English, from Old French, from Latin -  t s, -ta, from Greek -ts.] |
| -ite 2 suff. A salt or ester of an acid named with an adjective ending in -ous: sulfite. [Alteration of -ate.] |
| -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. |
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