-ia

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ia"

Translingual

Etymology

New Latin, from Latin -ia and Ancient Greek -ία (-ía), -εια (-eia), which form abstract nouns of feminine gender.

Suffix

-ia f

1. Used to form taxonomic names, especially to form genus names when appended to the name of a person, usually a scientist or a patron.

Derived terms

Translingual terms suffixed with -ia

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English

Etymology 1

From Latin -ia and Ancient Greek -ία (-ía), -εια (-eia), which form abstract nouns of feminine gender.

Suffix

-ia

1. Used in forming names of countries, diseases, flowers, and rarely collections of things (such as militaria, deletia).

Synonyms

• (collections of things): -ana, -ica

Etymology 2

From the endings of corresponding Latin and Ancient Greek plural nouns.

Suffix

-ia

1. Used in forming plurals of nouns in -ium and -ion.

Derived terms

English terms suffixed with -ia

Anagrams

• A-I, AI, Ai, a.i., ai

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Catalan

Suffix

-ia

1. forms nouns, from adjectives, denoting states, conditions and qualities; -ness; -ity; -y; -hood

   ‎covard (“coward”) + ‎-ia → ‎covardia (“cowardice”)

2. forms the names of offices or jobs; -ship

   ‎comptador (“accountant”) + ‎-ia → ‎comptadoria (“accounting”)

3. forms placenames; -y; -ia

   ‎occità (“Occitan”) + ‎-ia → ‎Occitània (“Occitanie”)

Derived terms

Catalan terms suffixed with -ia

Further reading

• “-ia”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “-ia” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

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Finnish

Etymology

From .

Suffix

-ia (front vowel harmony variant -iä, linguistic notation -iA)

1. Forms primarily transitive verbs describing repeating or continuous action.

Derived terms

Finnish terms suffixed with -ia

Anagrams

• ai

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Italian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek -ία (-ía).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈi.a/, [ˈiːä]
• Hyphenation: -ìa

Suffix

-ia f (plural -ie)

1. Derives abstract nouns denoting a state or condition from adjectives or nouns

   ‎allegro (“cheerful”, “happy”) + ‎-ia → ‎allegria (“joy”, “happiness”)

   ‎tiranno (“tyrant”) + ‎-ia → ‎tirannia (“tyranny”)

2. Derives abstract nouns denoting a collective group or a social condition

   ‎compagno (“companion”) + ‎-ia → ‎compagnia (“company”)

   ‎borghese (“bourgeois”) + ‎-ia → ‎borghesia (“bourgeoisie”)

3. Added to ethnonyms to derive place names

   ‎andaluso (“Andalusian”) + ‎-ia → ‎Andalusia (“Andalusia”)

4. Used to derive technical and scientific terms, especially from Ancient Greek terms

Derived terms

Italian terms suffixed with -ia

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Latin

Etymology

Partially from Ancient Greek -ίᾱ (-íā), -ία (-ía) and -εια (-eia), and so ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂. This suffix may also represent the feminine form of -ius.

Suffix

-ia f (genitive -iae); first declension

1. Used to form a feminine abstract noun, usually from an adjective or a present participle stem.

   ‎ignāvus + ‎-ia → ‎ignāvia

   ‎dēmens + ‎-ia → ‎dēmentia

   ‎opulentus + ‎-ia → ‎opulentia

   ‎fācundus + ‎-ia → ‎fācundia

   ‎mīles + ‎-ia → ‎mīlitia

   ‎custōs + ‎-ia → ‎custōdia

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-ia	-iae
Genitive	-iae	-iārum
Dative	-iae	-iīs
Accusative	-iam	-iās
Ablative	-iā	-iīs
Vocative	-ia	-iae

Synonyms

• -iēs

Derived terms

Latin terms suffixed with -ia

Descendants

• Old French: -ie
  • Middle French: -ie
    • French: -ie
  • → Middle High German: -ie
  • → Middle English: -ie
    • English: -y, -ie

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Portuguese

Etymology 1

Suffix

-ia f

1. forms nouns, from adjectives, denoting states, conditions and qualities; -ness; -ity; -y; -hood

   ‎alegre (“joyful”) + ‎-ia → ‎alegria (“joy”)

2. (medicine) forms the names of medical conditions; -y; -ia

   ‎acéfalo (“acephalous”) + ‎-ia → ‎acefalia (“acephaly”)

3. forms the names of offices or jobs; -ship

   ‎governador (“governor”) + ‎-ia → ‎governadoria (“the job or office of a governor”)

4. forms placenames; -y; -ia

   ‎Brasil (“Brazil”) + ‎-ia → ‎Brasília (“Brasilia”)

Synonyms

• (state; condition): -idade, -ção
• (job; office): -ado, -ato

Etymology 2

Suffix

-ia

1. appended to the stem, forms the first-person singular and third-person singular imperfect subjunctive of 2nd and 3rd conjugation verbs

   ‎comer (“to eat”) + ‎-ia → ‎comia (“I/he/she/it ate”)

Etymology 3

Suffix

-ia

1. appended to the infinitive, forms the first-person singular and third-person singular conditional of verbs

   ‎comer (“to eat”) + ‎-ia → ‎comeria (“I/he/she/it would eat”)

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Spanish

Suffix

-ia f

1. appears in feminine nouns, generally abstract, mostly inherited from Latin; -y

   ‎eficaz (“efficient”) + ‎-ia → ‎eficacia (“efficiency”)

2. forms placenames; -y; -ia

   ‎Brasil (“Brazil”) + ‎-ia → ‎Brasilia (“Brasilia”)

Derived terms

Spanish terms suffixed with -ia

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Swahili

Alternative forms

• -ea
• -lea
• -lia

Suffix

-ia

1. for (directed at, intended to belong to)

Usage notes

Used to form benefactive and additive verbs from other verbs (either of Bantu or Arabic origin), e.g., lipa (pay) --> lipia (pay for); jibu (answer) --> jibia (answer to/for). This affix is subject to vowel harmony: verbs with root vowels /e/ and /o/ take -ea, e.g., soma (read) --> somea (read to/for s.o).

Derived terms

Swahili terms suffixed with -ia