Word Building
Suffixes That Build Nouns
Learning the meanings of suffixes that build nouns can help you determine the definitions of many words. For example, if the word nominee is unfamiliar to you, but you know that ee is a suffix meaning "one who receives," then you can determine that nominee means "one who receives a nomination."
In this section you'll find suffixes that build nouns listed with their meanings and examples of words that use each suffix. If you find any unfamiliar words among the samples, grab your dictionary and look up their meanings.
age
(sum of, aggregate, collection)
Examples: tonnage (weight in tons), mileage (total of miles)
age
(act or process)
Examples: breakage, leakage, marriage, shrinkage
an, ain
(a member of, one)
Examples: Republican, Anglican, captain, crustacean, Mohammedan
ancy, ency
(quality or state of)
Examples: clemency (being merciful), brilliancy (quality of being brilliant), decency, poignancy
ant, ent
(one who, or that which)
Examples: agent (one who acts for), claimant, student, immigrant, emigrant, intoxicant (that which intoxicates), lubricant, refrigerant
ard, art
(one who does)
Examples: coward, braggart, drunkard, sluggard, laggard
ary
(engaged in, performing)
Examples: actuary (person engaged in computing), secretary
ate
(office, office-holder)
Examples: consulate (consul's office), episcopate, curate, graduate, syndicate
ation
(the act of)
Examples: declaration (act of declaring), demonstration, creation, explanation, expiration, publication
ee
(one who receives)
Examples: assignee (to whom an assignment is made), grantee, nominee, bailee, legatee
eer
(one who is engaged in)
Examples: volunteer, auctioneer, engineer, seer, racketeer
ery
(occupation, work)
Examples: archery, surgery, millinery, bindery, tannery, fishery, machinery, drapery
gram
(a writing)
Examples: anagram (a word game), telegram, radiogram
graph
(a writing)
Examples: autograph (person's own signature), holograph (document in handwriting of the maker), photograph, lithograph
ice
(act, quality or condition of)
Examples: justice (act of being just), malice, avarice, notice
ism
(act of, state of, condition)
Examples: criticism, baptism, conservatism, alcoholism, nationalism, egotism, ostracism
ist
(one who does or makes a practice of)
Examples: artist, dentist, pianist, antagonist, purist, opportunist, moralist, theorist
logy
(study, science of)
Examples: theology (science of religion), biology, astrology (study of the stars), psychology, geology (study of the earth)
ment
(act or process of)
Examples: investment (act of investing), atonement, government, replacement, abridgment judgment, enjoyment
tion
(action or condition of)
Examples: attention (act of attending), benediction (act of blessing), malediction, deception, redemption
tor
(doer, agent)
Examples: director, actor, testator, narrator, executor
trix
(feminine agent; used in legal terminology)
Examples: administratrix, executrix, testatrix
tude
(state, quality of being)
Examples: rectitude (rightness), amplitude (being ample), lassitude (weariness), beatitude (blessedness)
ure
(act of)
Examples: rupture (act of breaking), capture (act of seizing), exposure (act of exposing), procedure
wright
(maker, workman)
Examples: playwright, wheelwright