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Origin and history of -ia

-ia

word-forming element in names of countries, diseases, and flowers, from Latin and Greek -ia, noun ending, in Greek especially used in forming abstract nouns (typically of feminine gender); see -a (1). The classical suffix in its usual evolution (via French -ie) comes to Modern English as -y (as in familia/family, also -logy, -graphy). Compare -cy.

In paraphernalia, Mammalia, regalia, etc. it represents Latin or Greek -a (see -a (2)), plural suffix of nouns in -ium (Latin) or -ion (Greek), with formative or euphonic -i-.

Entries linking to -ia

acomia(n.)

"baldness, want or deficiency of hair," a medical term, by 1860, a coinage in Modern Latin from abstract noun suffix -ia (see -ia) + Latinized form of Greek akomos "hairless, bald," from a- "not, without" (see a- (3)) + komē "hair" (see comet).

Aglaia

name of one of the Graces, Greek, literally "splendor, beauty, brightness," from aglaos "splendid, beautiful, bright," which is of unknown origin (probably connected with agauos "noble, illustrious;" see agave), + abstract noun ending -ia.

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amblyopia
1706, "weakening of the eyesight without any apparent defect in the eyes," medical Latin, from Greek amblyōpia "dim-sightedness," noun of action from ōps "eye" (from PIE root *okw- "to see")  + amblys "dulled, blunt," a word of uncertain origin; according to Watkins possibly
anesthesia
1721, "loss of feeling," medical Latin, from Greek anaisthēsia "want of feeling or perception, lack of sensation (to pleasure or pain)," abstract noun from an- "without" (see an- (1)) + aisthēsis "feeling" (from PIE root *au- "to perceive"). For the abstract noun ending, see -ia.
anorexia
1590s, "morbid want of appetite," Modern Latin, from Greek anorexia, from an- "without" (see an- (1)) + orexis "appetite, desire," from oregein "to desire, long for," literally "reach out (one's hand), stretch oneself, stretch out for" (from PIE root *reg- "move in a straight lin
icicle
icicle, ice; glacier;" Old High German ihilla "icicle"), from PIE *yeg- "ice" (source also of Middle Irish aig "ice," Welsh ia...
cataract
early 15c., "a waterfall, floodgate, furious rush of water," from Latin cataracta "waterfall," from Greek katarhaktēs "waterfall, broken water; a kind of portcullis," noun use of an adjective compound meaning "swooping, down-rushing," from kata "down" (see cata-). The second elem
grail
c. 1300, gral, "the Holy Grail," from Old French graal, greal "Holy Grail; cup," earlier "large shallow dish, basin," from Medieval Latin gradalis, also gradale, grasale, "a flat dish or shallow vessel." The original form is uncertain; the word is perhaps ultimately from Latin cr
pander
"arranger of sexual liaisons, one who caters for the lusts of others," 1520s, "procurer, pimp," from Middle English Pandare (late 14c.), used by Chaucer ("Troylus and Cryseyde"), who borrowed it from Boccaccio (who had it in Italian form Pandaro in "Filostrato") as name of the pr
apparition
early 15c., "supernatural appearance or manifestation," from Anglo-French aparicion, Old French aparicion, aparoison (15c.), used in reference to the Epiphany (the revealing of the Christ child to the Wise Men), from Late Latin apparitionem (nominative apparitio) "an appearance,"
bender
late 15c., "instrument for bending," agent noun from bend (v.). Slang meaning "drinking bout" is American English, attested from 1846, perhaps from the Scottish sense of "a hard drinker" (1728). Perhaps from the verb in the figurative sense of "strain, brace, wind up." Other slan
connoisseur
1714, "a critical judge of any art, one well-acquainted with any of the fine arts and thus competent to pass judgment on its products," from French connoisseur (Modern French connaiseur), from Old French conoisseor "an expert, a judge, one well-versed," from conoistre "to know,"

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