-A


Meaning of -A in English

-a 1

a plural ending of nouns borrowed from Greek and Latin: phenomena; criteria; data; errata; genera.

-a 2

a feminine singular ending of nouns borrowed from Latin and Greek, also used in Neo-Latin coinages to Latinize bases of any origin, and as a Latin substitute for the feminine ending - e of Greek words: anabaena; cinchona; pachysandra.

-a 3

an ending of personal names forming feminines from masculines: Georgia; Roberta.

[ -a (see -A 2 ), as Claudia, fem. of Claudius ]

-a 4

a suffix designating the oxide of the chemical element denoted by the stem: alumina; ceria; thoria.

[ prob. generalized from the -a of MAGNESIA ]

Random House Webster's Unabridged English dictionary.      Полный английский словарь Вебстер - Random House .