-ous

• -ious
• -tous
• -uous

From Middle English -ous, from Old French -ous, -eux, from Latin -ōsus (“full, full of”). Doublet of -ose and -wise in unstressed position.

• IPA^(key): /-əs/

• Audio (southern England)

  (file)

-ous

1. Used to form adjectives from nouns, to denote:
   1. possession of

      ‎bulb + ‎-ous → ‎bulbous

   2. presence of a quality in any degree (typically abundance of)

      ‎courage + ‎-ous → ‎courageous

      ‎joy + ‎-ous → ‎joyous

      ‎poison + ‎-ous → ‎poisonous

      ‎riot + ‎-ous → ‎riotous

   3. relation or pertinence to

      ‎aptonym + ‎-ous → ‎aptonymous

      ‎arrhenotoky + ‎-ous → ‎arrhenotokous

2. (chemistry) Used in chemical nomenclature to name chemical compounds in which a specified chemical element has a lower oxidation number than in the equivalent compound whose name ends in the suffix -ic. For example sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄) has more oxygen atoms per molecule than sulphurous acid (H₂SO₃). See Inorganic nomenclature.

• -y
• (possession of): -ate

• -osity
• -ose

Note: Translations of English words ending in -ous do not necessarily end in the suffixes listed below.

• -ness
• -hood
• -ship
• -itas
• -itude
• -th
• -ia
• -itia
• -ity
• -ability
• -ibility
• -icity

• OSU, Sou, USO, sou

• -os, -ose, -ouse, -ows, -owse, -us, -ws

From Old French -ous, -us, -eus, from Latin -ōsus.

• IPA^(key): /-ˈuːs/, /-us/

-ous

1. Forms adjectives from nouns or verbs, especially if of Romance origin.

• English: -ous

• “-ǒus, suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

-ous

1. Alternative form of -us