It's Greek To Me!

Greek and Latin Prefixes, Roots and Suffixes used in English
This page © 1999 by Nicholas E. Miller


Basic term

Meaning

Greek
Latin
Prefix
Suffix

ornith, ornitho

bird

Yes, originally
Yes
Yes
.

Examples

Definition

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ornithic (4)

(adj.) - from the word = of or relating to birds.

ornithine (5)

(noun) - bird + a chemical substance = C5H12N2O2; a crystalline amino acid which functions in urea production.

ornithischian (5)

(noun) - bird + ischium = a type of herbivorous dinosaurs, such as the stegosaurus, with a backward pointing pubis. Ornithischian is the adjective form.

ornithology (3)

(noun) - bird + speak = the zoological science dealing with birds. Ornithological and ornithologic are adjectives, ornithologically is the adverb form and ornithologist is the noun form for a person who studies or does this.

ornithopod (5)

(noun) - bird + foot = two-legged walking dinosaurs, such as the hadrosaur, with only three functional toes.

ornithopter (5)

(noun) - bird + wing = an aircraft with flapping wings.

ornithosis (5)

(noun) - bird + condition or disease = an infectious disease of birds caused by the bacteria Chlamydia psittaci, in birds the symptoms are diarrhea and wasting, when transmitted to humans they usually get pneumonia and a high fever; more commonly called psittacosis. The plural is ornithoses.