-itis

From New Latin -itis, from Ancient Greek -ῖτις (-îtis, “pertaining to”). This is the feminine form of adjectival suffix -ῑ́της (-ī́tēs). The English suffix derives from the feminine form due to its use with the feminine noun νόσος (nósos, “disease”), particularly with ἀρθρῖτις (νόσος) (arthrîtis (nósos), “disease of the joints”) (one of the earliest English borrowings from which the suffix was extracted and abstracted).^[1] Adding "-itis" to the end of a word or phrase can give a humorous sense by generalization.

• IPA^(key): /-ˈaɪtɪs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

-itis (noun-forming suffix, usually uncountable, plural (uncommon) -itides or (rare) -itises or (rare) -ites)

1. (pathology) Denoting diseases characterized by inflammation, itself often caused by an infection.
2. (humorous) Used to form the names of various fictitious afflictions or diseases.
   • What to Do About Senioritis: Make Your Senior Year Count, College Board. Accessed April 4, 2008.^[2]

• While most of the derived terms theoretically have plurals in -itides (from the Ancient Greek -ῑ́τῐδες (-ī́tĭdes), plural of -ῖτῐς (-îtĭs)), -itises (the regularized English plural), or both, these forms are rarely used, as the derived terms are mass nouns, so their plurals are called for only when referring to types. For example, hepatitides or hepatitises as "types of hepatitis" have some currency in the medical literature, but most other such plurals do not. There is a tendency in formal writing to prefer the classical suffix (when a plural is invoked at all); a typical example is that for the plural of arthritis referring to various types of arthritis, only arthritides is standard.

• -osis (for chronic diseases)

• English dictionary of medical terms

• IIST, IITs, SITI, is it

From New Latin -ītis, from Ancient Greek -ῖτις (-îtis).

-itis f (noun-forming suffix, invariable)

1. (pathology) -itis

• “-itis”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “-itis”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “-itis” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

From New Latin -ītis, from Ancient Greek -ῖτις (-îtis).

-itis c (singular definite -itissen, plural indefinite -itisser)

1. (pathology) -itis

• “-itis” in Den Danske Ordbog

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

-itis f

1. -itis

Borrowed from English -itis, French -itis, Italian -ite, Portuguese -ite/Spanish -itis, Russian -ит (-it), all ultimately from New Latin -itis, from Ancient Greek -ῖτις (-îtis).

• IPA^(key): /ˈitis/

1=n

-itis

1. forms nouns from nouns, denoting an inflammitory disease; -itis

   ‎appendice (“appendix”) + ‎-itis → ‎appendicitis (“appendicitis”)

   ‎esophago (“oesophagus”) + ‎-itis → ‎esophagitis (“oesophagitis”)

   ‎larynge (“larynx”) + ‎-itis → ‎laryngitis (“laryngitis”)

• Alexander Gode; Hugh E. Blair (1955), Interlingua: A Grammar of the International Language, →ISBN

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek -ῖτις (-îtis, “pertaining to”).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈiː.tɪs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈiː.tis]

-ītis f (genitive -ītidis); third declension

1. (New Latin, pathology) -itis (suffix denoting diseases characterized by inflammation, itself often caused by an infection)

Third-declension noun.

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈiː.tiːs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈiː.tis]

-ītīs

1. dative/ablative plural of -ītēs

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [iː.tiːs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [i.tis]

-ītīs

1. dative/ablative masculine/feminine/neuter plural of -ītus

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɪ.tiːs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [i.tis]

-itīs

1. dative/ablative masculine/feminine/neuter plural of -itus

Learned borrowing from New Latin -ītis, from Ancient Greek -ῖτις (-îtis, “pertaining to”).

-itis f (noun-forming suffix, plural -itis)

1. (pathology) -itis (denotes diseases characterized by inflammation, itself often caused by an infection)
2. (humorous) -itis (forms the names of various fictitious afflictions or diseases)

• “-itis”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025