-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 -ītēs, -īta, from Greek -ītēs.]
-ite 2
suff. A salt or ester of an acid named with an adjective ending in -ous: sulfite.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
-ite
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. (Biology) (in biology) indicating a division of a body or organ: somite.
4. (Geological Science) indicating a mineral or rock: nephrite; peridotite.
5. (Commerce) indicating a commercial product: vulcanite.
[via Latin -ita from Greek -itēs or directly from Greek]
-ite
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]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
-ite1
, a suffix of nouns denoting esp. persons associated with a place, tribe, leader, doctrine, system, etc. (Campbellite; Israelite; laborite); minerals and fossils (ammonite; anthracite); explosives (cordite; dynamite); chemical compounds, esp. 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).
[Middle English < Latin -ita < Greek -itēs; in some words representing French -ite, German -it, etc.]
-ite2
, a suffix occurring orig. in loanwords form Latin, forming adjectives from nouns of Latin origin: ratite.
[< Latin -ītus orig. a past participle suffix]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
-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 NO
2, while a nitrate contains NO
3. Compare
-ate.
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.