OLOGIES AND ISMS

How often do we see a technical word without quite knowing what it means? If we can decipher it — undo its language code — we can start to understand others of a similar kind.

Ologies and Isms set out to explain the building blocks of the English language (the beginnings and endings, and sometimes the middles) that help form or adapt many of the words we use.

Alas, the book is now out of print. However, its author has put the text online as a free resource, under the simple title Affixes.

Improving on the book, it is heavily cross-referenced and comprehensively indexed by headword and theme. As time permits, it is being updated to reflect changes in the language.

Whether you’re a student or practitioner, a teacher of English, an inveterate word user, a logophile who is phobic about technological inexactitudes, or just a seeker-out of linguistic trifles, Affixes will help you to understand the language around you.

World Wide Words is copyright © Michael Quinion, 1996–2010. All rights reserved.
Your comments and corrections are welcome.