Meanings
alternative -ious · alternative -tous · alternative -uous
- Used to form adjectives from nouns, to denote:
- presence of a quality in any degree (typically an abundance)
joy + -ous → joyous
3 more examples
courage + -ous → courageous
poison + -ous → poisonous
riot + -ous → riotous
- relation or pertinence to
aptonym + -ous → aptonymous
1 more example
arrhenotoky + -ous → arrhenotokous
- chemistryUsed in chemical nomenclature to name 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. For example sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄) has more oxygen atoms per molecule than sulphurous acid (H₂SO₃). See Inorganic nomenclature.
Synonyms: -y
Synonyms & antonyms
suffixpossession of
suffixUsed in chemical nomenclature to name 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. For example sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄) has more oxygen atoms per molecule than sulphurous acid (H₂SO₃). See Inorganic nomenclature.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₃ed-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₃édosder.?
- English-ous
From Middle English -ous, from Old French -ous, -os, -us, from Latin -ōsus (“full of”). Doublet of -ose and -wise in unstressed position. Many English adjectives ending in -ous were taken from preexisting French or Latin adjectives that end in one of the above suffixes (e.g. envious corresponds directly to Old French envious which in turn corresponds directly to Latin invidiōsus). In addition, -ous (or the variant form -ious) has at times been attached to English nouns to form derived adjectives that lack precedents in French or Latin, such as slumberous from slumber or blizzardous from blizzard. It has also been used in some cases as a means of adapting adjectives borrowed from Latin that originally ended simply in -us, -a, -um (for example, obvious and previous are derived from Latin obvius and praevius, not *obviōsus or *praeviōsus).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic ـِيّ
- ـِيّ (-iyy)suffix to form adjectives
Catalan -ós, -osa
- -óssuffix to form adjectives
- -osasuffix to form adjectives
Danish -øs
- -øssuffix to form adjectives
Dutch -eus
- -eussuffix to form adjectives
Finnish -inen
- -inensuffix to form adjectives
French -eux, -euse
- -euxsuffix to form adjectives
- -eusesuffix to form adjectives
German -haft, -ös
- -haftsuffix to form adjectives
- -össuffix to form adjectives
Hindi -आना
- -आना (-ānā)suffix to form adjectives
Hungarian -s, -os
- -schemical compounds in which a specified chemical element has a lower oxidation number
- -oschemical compounds in which a specified chemical element has a lower oxidation number
- -aschemical compounds in which a specified chemical element has a lower oxidation number
- -eschemical compounds in which a specified chemical element has a lower oxidation number
- -öschemical compounds in which a specified chemical element has a lower oxidation number
- -ssuffix to form adjectives
- -ossuffix to form adjectives
- -assuffix to form adjectives
- -essuffix to form adjectives
- -össuffix to form adjectives
Italian -oso, -osa
- -ososuffix to form adjectives
- -osasuffix to form adjectives
Japanese 亜
- 亜 (a-)chemical compounds in which a specified chemical element has a lower oxidation number
Latin -osus, -osa
- -osussuffix to form adjectives
- -osasuffix to form adjectives
- -osumsuffix to form adjectives
Norwegian -øs
- -øssuffix to form adjectives
Persian ـمند
- ـمندsuffix to form adjectives
Polish -y, -awy
- -ysuffix to form adjectives
- -awysuffix to form adjectives
- -nysuffix to form adjectives
Portuguese -oso
- -ososuffix to form adjectives
Romanian -os, -oasă
- -ossuffix to form adjectives
- -oasăsuffix to form adjectives
Russian -истый, -о́зный
- -истый (-istyj)chemical compounds in which a specified chemical element has a lower oxidation number
- -о́зный (-óznyj)suffix to form adjectives
- -ный (-nyj)suffix to form adjectives
Spanish -oso, -oso
- -osochemical compounds in which a specified chemical element has a lower oxidation number
- -ososuffix to form adjectives
- -udosuffix to form adjectives
Swedish -ös
- -össuffix to form adjectives
Ukrainian -ий, й
- -ий (-yj)suffix to form adjectives
- й (j)suffix to form adjectives
Welsh -us, -us
- -uschemical compounds in which a specified chemical element has a lower oxidation number
- -ussuffix to form adjectives
Cite this entry
-ous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-ous
“-ous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-ous. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “-ous,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-ous.
Source: -ous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.