a suffix of nouns, often corresponding to verbs ending in -ize or nouns ending in -ism, that denote a person who practices or is concerned with something, or holds certain principles, doctrines, etc.: apologist; dramatist; machinist; novelist; realist; socialist; Thomist. Cf. -ism, -istic, -ize .
[ ME -iste -ista -istes; in some words, repr. F -iste, G -ist, It -ista, etc., ]