Word.ws English Dictionary

-id

/ɪd/

-id suffix: forming the names of dynasts, being suffixed to the name of their progenitors and meaning “descendant of”.

Suffix (1)

-id

  1. Forming the names of dynasts, being suffixed to the name of their progenitors and meaning “descendant of”.
    • Perseus + -id → Perseid (dynast)
    • Solomon + -id → Solomonid
  2. Forming the common names of members of a taxon which has a name ending in -idae.
    • A felid is a member of Felidae.
  3. Forming the names of cusps or other features of lower (mandibular) teeth.
    • protocone (“cusp of upper molars”) + -id → protoconid (“equivalent for lower molars”)
  4. Forming nouns from Latin or Greek roots, including certain plant names modelled on Latin sources.

Suffix (2)

-id

  1. Forming names of feminine equivalents or of feminine descendants from a masculine name.
    • Titan + -id → Titanid, literally “female Titan”
    • Nereus + -id → Nereid, literally “sprung of Nereus”
  2. Forming the names of epic poems.
    • Aeneas + -id → Aeneid
    • Achilles + -id → Achilleid
  3. Forming common names of meteors from their apparent constellation of origin.
    • Perseus + -id → Perseid (meteor)
    • Gemini + -id → Geminid

Suffix (3)

-id

  1. (not productive outside zoology) of or pertaining to; appended to various foreign words to make an English adjective or noun form. Often added to words of Greek, sometimes Latin, origin.
    • arachno- + -id → arachnid
    • falcon + -id → falconid
    Synonyms:
    -al, -an, -ite, -ar, -ese, -ic, -ish, -like, -oid, -ory

Synonyms of -id

2 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Forms of -id

alternative form (archaic)-ide

Origin of -id

Borrowed from Middle French -ide m, from Latin -idēs m (patronymic suffix; plural: -idae), from Ancient Greek -ίδης m (-ídēs, patronymic suffix; plural: -ίδαι (-ídai)).

Borrowed from Middle French -ide f, from Latin -is f (genitive: -idis; plural: -ides), from Ancient Greek -ῐς f (-ĭs) (genitive: -ῐδος (-ĭdos); plural: -ῐδες (-ĭdes)).

Variant of -oid.

Questions about -id

What does -id mean?
-id means forming the names of dynasts, being suffixed to the name of their progenitors and meaning “descendant of”.
What part of speech is -id?
-id is a suffix.
How do you pronounce -id?
-id is pronounced /ɪd/.

Words near -id in the dictionary

  1. -icism
  2. -icity
  3. -ick
  4. -icle
  5. -ics
  6. -id
  7. -ide
  8. -idene
  9. -idian
  10. -idine
  11. -idion

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: -id (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:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl--id.wav.

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