Word.ws English Dictionary

-i-

-i- interfix: a vowel inserted interconsonantally between morphemes of Latinate origin in order to ease pronunciation (an anaptyxis, a linking vowel).

Interfix (1)

-i-

  1. A vowel inserted interconsonantally between morphemes of Latinate origin in order to ease pronunciation (an anaptyxis, a linking vowel).

Interfix (2)

-i-

  1. A monoclonal antibody derived from a non-human primate source.

Suffix

-i-

  1. A spelling variant of a word-final -y vowel when followed by a suffix that does not begin with an i, for example -ied, -ier, -iest.
    • happiness (happy + -ness)
    • penniless (penny + -less)
  2. In compound words, a spelling variant of a final or suffixed -y vowel in the first word.
    • pantiliner (panty + liner)
    • dutibound (duty + bound)

Origin of -i-

Borrowed from Latin -i-.

The initial vowel of primate.

A word-internal spelling variant of a word-final y.

Words formed from -i-

Questions about -i-

What does -i- mean?
-i- means a vowel inserted interconsonantally between morphemes of Latinate origin in order to ease pronunciation (an anaptyxis, a linking vowel).
What part of speech is -i-?
-i- can be an interfix or a suffix.

Words near -i- in the dictionary

  1. -hub
  2. -hyal
  3. -i
  4. -i adjective
  5. -i adjectives
  6. -i-
  7. -ia
  8. -iad
  9. -ial
  10. -ials
  11. -ian

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: -i- (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “-i-.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/-i-. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.