-ous

Morpheme

-ous

Type

suffix

Denotation

(1) adjective suffix denoting “having, full of, having to do with, doing, inclined to”; (2) chemical suffix in chemical compounds in which a specified chemical element has a lower oxidation number than in the equivalent compound whose name ends in the suffix -ic

Etymology

(1) Old French -ous, -eux; Latin -ōsus; (2) Latin -ōsus

Evidence

‎acanthous, anonymous, anxious, bulbous, chivalrous, courageous, curious, curvaceous, dactylous, eponymous, ferrous, furious, galactophorous, hazardous, hypochlorous, ichorous, joyous, keratinous, laborious, murderous, nervous, nitrous, obvious, pertinacious, phosphorous, poisonous, precious, pugnacious, quartzous, riotous, spinous, sulphurous, tenuous, ulcerous, ustorious, viperous, wintrous, wonderous, xenologous, zealous