Derivatives:
-oidal suffix forming adjectives. -oidally suffix forming adverbs.
Etymology: mod.L -oides f. Gk -oeides f. eidos form
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I. \\ˌȯid\ noun suffix (-s)Etymology: Latin -oïdes, from -oïdes, adjective suffix
cylindroid
globoid
hyperboloid
Etymology: Middle French -oïde & Latin -oïdes, from Greek -oeidēs, from -o- + -eidēs, from eidos form, shape, kind — more at wise
: resembling : having the form or appearance of
asbestoid
Caucasoid
crystalloid
granitoid
intellectualoid
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a suffix meaning "resembling," "like," used in the formation of adjectives and nouns (and often implying an incomplete or imperfect resemblance to what is indicated by the preceding element): alkaloid; anthropoid; cardioid; cuboid; lithoid; ovoid; planetoid. Cf. -ode1.
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-oid /-oid/
noun and adjective combining form
Denoting (something) that resembles or has the shape of, as in anthropoid, asteroid, deltoid
ORIGIN: Gr -oeidēs, from eidos shape, form
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-oidal adj combining form
-oidally adv combining form
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-oid,
suffix forming adjectives and nouns.
1. like _____; like that of a _____: »
Ameboid = like an ameba.
2. a thing like a _____: »
Spheroid = a thing like a sphere (in form).
╂[< New Latin -oides, reduction of Greek -oeid
in the form of < eîdos form]
in the form of < eîdos form]* * *
suffix forming adjectives and nouns
1) Zoology denoting an animal belonging to a higher taxon with a name ending in -oidea
hominoid | percoid
2) denoting form or resemblance
asteroid | rhomboid
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Origin:
from modern Latin -oides, from Greek -oeidēs; related to eidos ‘form’
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(in adjectives and nouns) similar to
•
humanoid
•
rhomboid
Word Origin:
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-oid, suffix(ɔɪd, əʊɪd)
ad. mod.L. -oīdēs, Gr. -οειδής, i.e. -ο- of prec. element or connective + -ειδής ‘having the form or likeness of’, ‘like’, f. εἶδος form; cf. L. -i-formis: see -form. (A parallel Gr. formative was -ώδης: see -ode1.) Examples: αἱµατοειδής (αἱµατώδης) ‘like blood, of the appearance of blood, hæmatoid’; ἀνθρωποειδής ‘of human form, manlike, anthropoid’. In other mod. langs., as in Gr. and L., the o and i make distinct syllables (L. anthrōpoīdēs, F. anthropoïde, Ger. anthropoïd); in Eng. also, some pronounce (ænθrəʊˈpəʊɪd), but the prevalent pronunciation of the suffix (and in many words, as alkaloid, asteroid, the only one) is with the diphthong (oi) as in void.
Extensively used in scientific terms, taken from Greek prototypes, or formed on Gr. (rarely L.) words. These are primarily adjs. with the sense ‘having the form or nature of, resembling, allied to’; but also (as sometimes in Gr.) ns., in the sense of ‘something having the form or appearance of, something related or allied in structure, but not identical’. The ns. are esp. numerous in Mathematics, where, in imitation of rhomboid (Gr. ῥοµβοειδής approaching a lozenge (ῥόµβος) in shape, a rhomboid) and trapezoid (Gr. τραπεζοειδής having somewhat of the form of a table (τράπεζα)), the suffix has been used to form the names of many geometrical figures.
Examples:—(adj.) Anat. adenoid, arachnoid, arytenoid, coracoid, hyoid, sigmoid, thyroid; Zool. amœboid, anthropoid, cancroid, crinoid, echinoid, hydroid, ichthyoid, medusoid, simioid; Bot. ovoid, scorpioid.
(ns.) Math. cardioid, cycloid, ellipsoid, hyperboloid, rhomboid, spheroid, trapezoid; Astron. asteroid, planetoid; Chem. albuminoid, alkaloid, amyloid, colloid, crystalloid, metalloid, selenoid; Bot. aroid, fucoid, rhizoid; Zool. zooid; Min. amygdaloid.
The mod.L. -oïda, -oïdea, -oïdeæ, -oïdei, -oïdeus (Eng. -oideous), are derivatives of -oimacumldēs, -oid.
-oidal. When the form in -oid is a n., an adj. is formed in -oidal (see -al1); as conchoidal, cycloidal, rhomboidal, trapezoidal; so alkaloidal, asteroidal, fucoidal, etc.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.