-cism

suffix

Excessive usage of the phoneme.

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Meanings

suffix
  1. Added to names of primarily Greek letters to indicate a phonetic phenomenon relating to the corresponding phoneme:
    1. Excessive usage of the phoneme.
    2. A sound change towards the phoneme.
    3. The retention of a phoneme when related varieties lose it.
    4. A speech disorder marked by either excessive or defective use of the phoneme.

Origin

Back-formation from iotacism.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

-cism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-cism

MLA

“-cism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-cism. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “-cism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-cism.

Source: -cism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.