-ón

See also: Appendix:Variations of "on"

Galician

Alternative forms

• -om (reintegrationist)
• -ão (reintegrationist)

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese -on, probably from the ending of Latin words belonging to the Third Declension (-ō, -ōnem), used sometimes to change the sense or usage of original term. In this case, Galician -ón would be cognate to Portuguese -ão, Spanish -ón, Italian -one and French -on, compare Romanian -oi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈoŋ/

Suffix

-ón (adjective-forming suffix, feminine -ona, masculine plural -óns, feminine plural -onas)

2. (added to verbs) a person or thing that does an action indicated by the root verb; used to form an agent noun

   ‎ornear (“to horn, trumpet”) + ‎-ón → ‎orneón (“drone of a bagpipe”)

   ‎pisar (“to press”) + ‎-ón → ‎pisón (“rammer”)

   ‎podar (“to prune”) + ‎-ón → ‎podón (“prunning hook”)

Suffix

-ón m (noun-forming suffix, plural -óns)

1. forms a noun for a different (usually larger) but related or similar one

   ‎abella (“bee”) + ‎-ón → ‎abellón (“drone”)

   ‎cagalla (“dropping”) + ‎-ón → ‎cagallón (“turd”)

   ‎caixa (“box”) + ‎-ón → ‎caixón (“drawer”)

2. forms the augmentative of nouns or verbs, of its meaning or simply morphologically

   ‎campo (“land”) + ‎-ón → ‎campón (“forest lands for foraging, or fallowed”)

   ‎cesto (“basket”) + ‎-ón → ‎cestón (“big basket”)

   ‎comer (“to eat”) + ‎-ón → ‎comechón (“itch”)

Suffix

-ón m (noun-forming suffix, plural -óns)

1. ending of some particles, atoms or states where charge or atomic mass is involved.
   1. (nuclear physics) for most or every subatomic particle

      electrón, fermión, fotón, hiperón, leptón, mesón, negatón, negatrón, neutrón, nucleón, positón, positrón, protón

   2. (physics) for some elements associated with atomic mass.

      deuterón, deutón, torón, tritón

   3. (chemistry) for some nuclear states associated with charge.

      ión, anión, catión

   4. (chemistry) eventually and by surface analysis, a molecule by its main element.

      natrón, pavón

Usage notes

Some particles have a double name, with or without ⟨(e)r⟩: negat(r)ón, posit(r)ón, deut(er)ón.

One etymological hypothesis for natrón discards the supposition of suffixation, as it could actually come from the name of a soda lake in Egypt (Wadi El Natrun) with historical known deposits of that material.

Suffix

-ón m (noun-forming suffix, plural -óns)

1. (nuclear physics) ending for facilities where the atoms are studied.

   betatrón, ciclotrón, sincrociclotrón, sincrotrón

Suffix

-ón (adjective-forming suffix, feminine -oa, masculine plural -óns, feminine plural -oas)

2. (no longer productive) part of nouns, mainly learned forms or borrowed from other languages

   ‎santo + ‎-ón → ‎santón, santoa

4. (no longer productive) forms adjectives, nouns and proper nouns referring to a location or type of location, meaning “of or relating to that location” and nouns meaning “someone from that location”

   ‎Beira + ‎-ón → ‎beirón (“from Beira (Portugal)”), beiroa

Usage notes

• The most frequent feminine form is -ona, with a ratio of five to one (130 to 28). This form usually has a pejorative or derogatory sense, or iterative on a feature considered negatively: fanfarrón (“bragger”), rosmón (“complainer”), zoupón (“clumsy”), porfión (“stubborn”).
• Most toponymical adjectives with the suffix ending in feminine -oa are of (Germanic) French or Centroeuropean origin: anglosaxón, baixosaxón, borgoñón, bretón, francón, frisón, gascón, saxón, teutón, valón, vascón; exceptions are from Portugal (beirón), Eastern/Northern Europe (eslavón, lapón, letón), East Asia (nipón) or South America (patagón).
• The origin or relatedness by surface analysis of the rest (usually borrowed, learned forms, from the dawn of the language or even from Latin) are nowadays obscure for common speakers:

  padrón, padroa or patrón, patroa, from Latin pater

  campión, campioa, from Italian campione

• Some are analysed as suffixes with even more difficulty:

  león, leoa, from Latin leo, leaena

  peón, peoa, from Late Latin pedo, -onem

  anfitrión, anfitrioa, from Greek

• Finally, there are adjectives even with two feminines:

  ladrón, ladroa and ladra

Derived terms

Galician terms suffixed with -ón

abellón

agrión

baldón

bruión

bugallón

cabanón

cabrón

cachón

cagallón

caixón

calzón

camarón

camballón

cambón

cantón

cartón

cascón

castrón

chorón

cichón

cimón

coirón

colchón

comichón

couzón

dentón

empurrón

empuxón

fervón

fodón

folión

fungón

galeón

garrafón

lacón

lambón

larfón

leirón

leitón

mangallón

marañón

montón

narneón

negrón

nifrón

orneón

outón

papallóns

papón

pedichón

petón

picón

pingallón

pisón

podón

regatón

releón

relón

rifón

rinchón

roncón

roñón

rosmón

saltón

serrón

terrón

xergón

zoupón

Ligurian

Etymology

From Latin -ōne(m), accusative of -ō (3^rd declension noun suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈuŋ/

Suffix

-ón m (plural -oìn, feminine -ónn-a)

1. Emphasizes that something is large, grand, intense, important

   ‎mêgo (“physician”) + ‎-ón → ‎mêgón (“healer”)

2. Used with a verb stem to form agent nouns

   ‎giastemâ (“to blaspheme”) + ‎-ón → ‎giastemón (“blasphemer”)

Ligurian terms suffixed with -ón

crastón

forcón

giastemón

mêgón

vegión

öxelón

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈon/ [ˈõn]
• Rhymes: -on
• Syllabification: -ón

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin -ōnem, and was used sometimes to change the sense or usage of original term. Cognate with Portuguese -ão, Italian -one, French -on (whence English -oon), and Romanian -oi.

Suffix

-ón m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ones, feminine -ona, feminine plural -onas)
-ón (adjective-forming suffix, feminine -ona, masculine plural -ones, feminine plural -onas)

1. (intensive) emphasizes that something is large, grand, intense, important

   ‎problema + ‎-ón → ‎problemón (“a big trouble”)

2. (intensive) indicates that someone or something has large attributes, or larger than usual

   ‎ceja + ‎-ón → ‎cejón (“someone who has large eyebrows”)

   ‎cabeza + ‎-ón → ‎cabezón (“someone who has a large head”)

3. for few cases, indicates that something is used wrong or frequently (forming adjectives and or nouns)

   ‎boca + ‎-ón → ‎bocón (“big-mouth, big-mouthed, boastful”)

4. emphasizes contempt for subject
5. forms a noun from a different (usually larger) but related or similar one

   ‎silla (“chair”) + ‎-ón → ‎sillón (“armchair”)

   ‎caja (“box”) + ‎-ón → ‎cajón (“drawer”)

6. suffixed to verbs, doing something repeatedly or often

   ‎llorar + ‎-ón → ‎llorón (“something or someone that cries”)

   ‎mirar + ‎-ón → ‎mirón (“something or someone that watches”)

8. (rare, diminutive) for very few cases, indicates small size of or a lack of something (such as an ironic augmentative)

   ‎pelo + ‎-ón → ‎pelón (“with little or no hair”)

   ‎rabo + ‎-ón → ‎rabón (“with little or no tail”)

   ‎rata (“rat”) + ‎-ón → ‎ratón (“mouse”)

   ‎tapa + ‎-ón → ‎tapón (“cork, stopper, a little cover or lid”)

   ‎monte + ‎-ón → ‎montón (“heap, pile, a "little mountain"”); although its origin may be a comparison with a little mountain of something, it also means "big amount"

Usage notes

• The suffix produces adjectives or nouns.
• Some Spanish words ending with this suffix have neither a Latin nor a Greek etymology, but an Arabic one:
  • algodón, rincón, limón
• Many Spanish words end with -on (lacking a written accent, being always paroxytone), but most of those cases is an inflection for the third-person plural (ellos, ellas, also used with ustedes) preterite indicative form of a verb:
  • amaron, hablaron, corrieron, dijeron, etc.

See also

• -azo
• -oso
• -ote
• -udo

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English -on, a suffix extracted from argon, krypton and neon, the first three noble gases to be named, respectively from Ancient Greek ἀργόν (argón, “lazy, inactive”), κρυπτόν (kruptón, “hidden”) and νέον (néon, “new”); hence, ultimately from Ancient Greek -ον (-on), cognate with Latin -um.

Suffix

-ón m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ones)

1. (chemistry) ending of every chemical element belonging only to the noble gases group, except helium (in Spanish helio)

   neón, criptón, argón, xenón, radón

Usage notes

• Aside from the group of noble gases, 1 element in the periodic table ends with "a" (plata), 1 with "c" (zinc), 2 with "e" (azufre, cobre), 1 with "l" (níquel), 1 with "r" (flúor), none with "ón" and the rest with "o"; boron = boro, carbon = carbono (carbón means charcoal), silicon = silicio.

Etymology 3

Borrowed from English -on, a suffix extracted from electron, originally a blend of electric + ion, named by Irish physicist George Johnstone Stoney.

Suffix

-ón m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ones)

1. (nuclear physics) ending of most or every subatomic particle

   protón, electrón, neutrón, bosón, hadrón

Further reading

• “-ón”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025