-acea
zoology
a suffix used in the formation of names of cl-sses and orders:
crustacea.
-acea
suffix
denoting animals belonging to a cl-ss or order crustacea (cl-ss), cetacea (order)
word origin
new latin, from latin, neuter plural of -āceus-aceous
-acea
suffix denoting orders and cl-sses in zoology, from l. -acea, neut. pl. of -aceus “belonging to, of the nature of” (enlarged from adj. suffix -ax, gen. -acis); neut. pl. because of a presumed animalia, a neuter plural noun. thus, crustacea “sh-llfish” are -crustacea animalia “crusty animals.” in botany, the suffix is -aceae, from the fem. pl. of -aceus, with reference to l. plantae, which is a fem. plural.
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- -aceae
botany a suffix used in the formation of names of families: rosaceae. -aceae suffix denoting plants belonging to a family liliaceae, ranunculaceae word origin new latin, from latin, feminine plural of -āceus-aceous
- -aceous
a suffix with the meanings “resembling, having the nature of,” “made of,” occurring in loanwords from latin (cretaceous; herbaceous) and forming adjectives in english on the latin model (ceraceous), especially adjectival correspondents to taxonomic names ending in -acea, and -aceae: rosaceous . -aceous suffix relating to, belonging to, having the nature of, or resembling herbaceous, […]
- -acious
a suffix forming adjectives that correspond to nouns ending in the suffixes -acity, and -acy: audacious; fallacious .
- -acity
a complex noun suffix meaning “quality of” or “abounding in the characteristic of,” appearing in loanwords from latin: tenacity.
- -acy
a suffix of nouns of quality, state, office, etc., many of which accompany adjectives in -acious or nouns or adjectives in -ate: fallacy; papacy; legacy; delicacy; piracy.