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-itis

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

See also: itis and -ītis

English

Etymology

From New Latin -itis, from Ancient Greek -ῖτις (-îtis, “pertaining to”). This is the feminine form of adjectival suffix -ῑ́της (-ī́tēs). The English suffix derives from the feminine form due to its use with the feminine noun νόσος (nósos, “disease”), particularly with ἀρθρῖτις (νόσος) (arthrîtis (nósos), “disease of the joints”) (one of the earliest English borrowings from which the suffix was extracted and abstracted).^[1] Adding "-itis" to the end of a word or phrase can give a humorous sense by generalization.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /-ˈaɪtɪs/
Audio (Southern England): (file)

Suffix

-itis (noun-forming suffix, usually uncountable, plural (uncommon) -itides or (rare) -itises or (rare) -ites)

(pathology) Denoting diseases characterized by inflammation, itself often caused by an infection.
(humorous) Used to form the names of various fictitious afflictions or diseases.
- What to Do About Senioritis: Make Your Senior Year Count, College Board. Accessed April 4, 2008.^[2]

Usage notes

While most of the derived terms theoretically have plurals in -itides (from the Ancient Greek -ῑ́τῐδες (-ī́tĭdes), plural of -ῖτῐς (-îtĭs)), -itises (the regularized English plural), or both, these forms are rarely used, as the derived terms are mass nouns, so their plurals are called for only when referring to types. For example, hepatitides or hepatitises as "types of hepatitis" have some currency in the medical literature, but most other such plurals do not. There is a tendency in formal writing to prefer the classical suffix (when a plural is invoked at all); a typical example is that for the plural of arthritis referring to various types of arthritis, only arthritides is standard.

Derived terms

English terms suffixed with -itis

abbreviationitis

achillobursitis

blepharokeratoconjunctivitis

chorioamnionitis

choriocapillaritis

conservativitis

departmentalitis

diaphragmatitis

endophthalmitis

endothelialitis

frontrunneritis

hepatosplenitis

iridocapsulitis

pathology: diseases characterized by inflammation

humorous: fictional diseases and conditions

Translations

suffix denoting diseases characterized by inflammation

Bulgarian: -и́т m (-ít)
Catalan: -itis (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: -炎 (zh) (-yán)
Czech: -itida f
Dutch: -itis (nl) f
Esperanto: -ito (eo)
Finnish: -iitti
French: -ite (fr) f
Galician: -ite (gl) f
German: -itis (de) f
Greek:
Ancient Greek: -ιτις (-itis)
Hungarian: -gyulladás (hu)
Interlingua: -itis
Irish: -íteas m
Italian: -ite (it) f
Japanese: -炎 (-en)
Korean: -염 (ko) (-yeom)
Latin: -itis f
Malay: radang, -itis
Polish: -ita f
Portuguese: -ite (pt) f
Romanian: -ită f
Russian: -и́т (ru) m (-ít)
Spanish: -itis (es) f
Swedish: -it (sv)
Turkish: -it

suffix denoting fictitious afflictions or diseases

Dutch: -itis (nl) f
German: -itis (de) f
Polish: -ita f
Russian: -и́т (ru) m (-ít)
Spanish: -itis (es) f

See also

-osis (for chronic diseases)

References

^ -itis. Dictionary.com.
^ “What to Do About Senioritis: Make Your Senior Year Count”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[1], 26 November 2018 (last accessed), archived from the original on 1 March 2009

Further reading

English dictionary of medical terms

Anagrams

IIST, IITs, SITI, is it

Catalan

Etymology

From New Latin -ītis, from Ancient Greek -ῖτις (-îtis).

Suffix

-itis f (noun-forming suffix, invariable)

(pathology) -itis

Derived terms

Further reading

“-itis”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
“-itis”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
“-itis” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

Danish

Etymology

From New Latin -ītis, from Ancient Greek -ῖτις (-îtis).

Suffix

-itis c (singular definite -itissen, plural indefinite -itisser)

(pathology) -itis

Declension

Declension of *-itis*
common gender	singular		plural
common gender	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	-itis	-itissen	-itisser	-itisserne
genitive	-itiss	-itissens	-itissers	-itissernes

Derived terms

Danish terms suffixed with -itis

Further reading

“-itis” in Den Danske Ordbog

German

Pronunciation

Audio: (file)
Audio (Germany (Berlin)): (file)

Suffix

-itis f

-itis

Derived terms

German terms suffixed with -itis

Aufschieberitis

Interlingua

Etymology

Borrowed from English -itis, French -itis, Italian -ite, Portuguese -ite/Spanish -itis, Russian -ит (-it), all ultimately from New Latin -itis, from Ancient Greek -ῖτις (-îtis).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈitis/

Suffix

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Please see Module:checkparams for help with this warning.}

-itis

forms nouns from nouns, denoting an inflammitory disease; -itis
‎appendice (“appendix”) + ‎-itis → ‎appendicitis (“appendicitis”)

‎esophago (“oesophagus”) + ‎-itis → ‎esophagitis (“oesophagitis”)

‎larynge (“larynx”) + ‎-itis → ‎laryngitis (“laryngitis”)

Derived terms

Category Interlingua terms suffixed with -itis not found

References

Alexander Gode; Hugh E. Blair (1955), Interlingua: A Grammar of the International Language, →ISBN

Latin

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek -ῖτις (-îtis, “pertaining to”).

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈiː.tɪs]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈiː.tis]

Suffix

-ītis f (genitive -ītidis); third declension

(New Latin, pathology) -itis (suffix denoting diseases characterized by inflammation, itself often caused by an infection)

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	-ītis	-ītidēs
genitive	-ītidis	-ītidum
dative	-ītidī	-ītidibus
accusative	-ītidem	-ītidēs
ablative	-ītide	-ītidibus
vocative	-ītis	-ītidēs

Derived terms

Latin terms suffixed with -itis

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈiː.tiːs]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈiː.tis]

Suffix

-ītīs

dative/ablative plural of -ītēs

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [iː.tiːs]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [i.tis]

Suffix

-ītīs

dative/ablative masculine/feminine/neuter plural of -ītus

Etymology 4

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɪ.tiːs]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [i.tis]

Suffix

-itīs

dative/ablative masculine/feminine/neuter plural of -itus

Spanish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from New Latin -ītis, from Ancient Greek -ῖτις (-îtis, “pertaining to”).

Suffix

-itis f (noun-forming suffix, plural -itis)

(pathology) -itis (denotes diseases characterized by inflammation, itself often caused by an infection)
(humorous) -itis (forms the names of various fictitious afflictions or diseases)

Derived terms

Further reading

“-itis”, 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

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