Morpheme
-ous
Type
suffix
Denotation
(1) adjective suffix denoting “resembling, full of, abounding in, having, possession of”; (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, -eous, eponymous, ferrous, furious, galactophorous, hazardous, hypochlorous, ichorous, -ious, joyous, keratinous, laborious, murderous, nervous, nitrous, obvious, palacious, pertinacious, phosphorous, poisonous, precious, pugnacious, quartzous, riotous, spinous, sulphurous, tenuous, ulcerous, ustorious, viperous, wintrous, wonderous, xenologous, zealous
Notes
unstressed form of -ose
See Also
-ous, -os(e) [-ose, -os], -osus, -osi, -osa, -osae, -osum, -oso, -eux, -euse, -ic
