-ite

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

-ite,¹ suffix. 

1. -ite is attached to nouns and roots to form nouns with the meanings:
   • a person associated with or living in a place;
     a person connected with a tribe, leader, set of beliefs, system, etc.:
     Manhattan + -ite → Manhattanite;
     Israel + -ite → Israelite;
     Labor + -ite → Laborite (= someone following the Labor Party).
   • mineral or fossil;
     explosive;
     chemical compound or drug product:
     anthracite;
     dynamite;
     sulfite.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

-ite,¹ 

1. a suffix of nouns denoting esp. persons associated with a place, tribe, leader, doctrine, system, etc. (Campbellite;
   Israelite;
   laborite);
   minerals and fossils (ammonite;
   anthracite);
   explosives (cordite;
   dynamite);
   chemical compounds, esp. salts of acids whose names end in -ous (phosphite;
   sulfite);
   pharmaceutical and commercial products (vulcanite);
   a member or component of a part of the body (somite). Cf. -itis.

• Greek, as above
• Latin
• Greek; in some words representing French -ite, German -it, etc.
• Greek -itēs; often directly
• Latin -ita
• Middle English

-ite,² 

1. a suffix forming adjectives and nouns from adjectives, and from some verbs:
   composite;
   erudite;
   requisite.

• Latin -itus or -ītus past participle suffix

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

-ite suffix:forming_nouns

1. a native or inhabitant of: Israelite
2. a follower or advocate of; a member or supporter of a group: Luddite, labourite
3. (in biology) indicating a division of a body or organ: somite
4. indicating a mineral or rock: nephrite, peridotite
5. indicating a commercial product: vulcanite

Etymology: via Latin -ita from Greek -itēs or directly from Greek

-ite suffix:forming_nouns

1. indicating a salt or ester of an acid having a name ending in -ous: a nitrite is a salt of nitrous acid

Etymology: from French, arbitrary alteration of -ate¹