This list includes 20 Suffixes that start with G, from “-gamous” to “-gyny”. Many of these endings come from Greek and Latin and appear often in scientific, medical, and social vocabulary.
Suffixes that start with G are bound endings that attach to roots to form new words. Many entered English through Greek and Latin; for example, “-gamous” appears in “polygamous” and “-gyny” in “polygyny”.
Below you’ll find the table with Origin, Meaning, and Example words.
Origin: Shows the language or historical period where each suffix comes from, so you understand its background and word family.
Meaning: Gives a short phrase explaining the suffix’s basic sense, helping you pick the right ending for your word.
Example words: Lists two to four real words that use the suffix, so you can see practical, commonly used contexts.
Suffixes that start with G
| Suffix | Origin (language/period) | Meaning | Example words | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| –gate | Modern English (from proper name Watergate, 1970s) | scandal-name forming; denotes controversy | watergate, irangate, gamergate | Coined from the Watergate scandal; highly productive in journalism to label scandals. Casual coinage; sometimes criticized as cliché. |
| –gram | Greek (gramma) via Latin/French | something written, recorded; unit of weight | telegram, kilogram, instagram | Used for records/messages and the metric unit. Productive in tech, science, and branding; common and familiar. |
| –graph | Greek (graphein) via Latin/French | writer, instrument, record-maker | autograph, seismograph, phonograph | Agent/instrument forming element in technical and scholarly terms; moderately productive in coinages. |
| –graphy | Greek (graphein) via Latin/French | writing, description, field of study | geography, biography, photography | Very productive for naming disciplines, practices, or processes; ubiquitous in academic and everyday vocabulary. |
| –graphic | Greek via Latin/French | pertaining to writing, representation, or description | photographic, demographic, lithographic | Adjective-forming; common in technical and descriptive contexts; productive in coinage. |
| –genic | Greek (genes) via Latin | producing, causing, generated by | carcinogenic, photogenic, thermogenic | Widely used in scientific and lay contexts to mean “causing” or “produced by”; highly productive. |
| –genesis | Greek via Latin | origin, formation, development | pathogenesis, biogenesis, angiogenesis | Noun-forming in technical/medical vocabulary denoting formation or origin; common in science. |
| –gen | Greek via Latin | producer, originator; chemical element marker | pathogen, hydrogen, halogen | Productive combining form in science and chemistry; denotes source, generator, or class of substances. |
| –genous | Greek via Latin | produced by; originating in or from | endogenous, exogenous, halogenous | Adjectival form used in biology/chemistry; formal and technical, not everyday. |
| –gene | Greek (modern scientific coinage) | a gene or agent producing a trait | oncogene, proto‑oncogene, mutagene | Scientific noun-forming suffix in genetics/biomedicine; used in technical literature and popular science. |
| –gamy | Greek (gamos) via Latin | marriage, union, marital arrangement | monogamy, polygamy, endogamy | Refers to types of marriage/union; common in social science and general vocabulary. |
| –gamous | Greek via Latin | having a specified marriage/union; adjective | monogamous, polygamous, exogamous | Adjectival counterpart to -gamy; standard and fairly common. |
| –gynous | Greek (gynē) via Latin | relating to female parts or female-first timing | androgynous, protogynous, gynoecious | Frequent in biology and gender terminology; technical in specialized contexts, sometimes colloquial (androgynous). |
| –gyny | Greek via Latin | wife/woman; marriage pattern involving wives | polygyny, monogyny | Rare, specialized in anthropology, biology, and historical discussions of mating systems. |
| –gon | Greek (gonia) via Latin/French | angle, corner, side (shape names) | pentagon, hexagon, decagon | Common in geometry and polygon names; productive with numeric prefixes. |
| –gonal | Greek via Latin | having angles or sides; adjective from -gon | hexagonal, octagonal, diagonal | Adjectival form of -gon; regular in geometric descriptors. |
| –grade | Latin (gradus) via French | step, degree, rate, rank | centigrade, retrograde, upgrade | Used for degrees/steps and in some verbs; classical combining form in measurements and descriptors. |
| –gress | Latin (gradior/gressus) via French/Latin | step, go, move; acting/motion | progress, digress, congress | Combining form in many learned borrowings; not highly productive in everyday coinage but common in set words. |
| –gnosis | Greek (gnōsis) via Latin | knowledge, knowing, diagnostic knowledge | diagnosis, prognosis, agnosis | Medical/technical noun-forming element meaning “knowledge of/about”; formal usage. |
| –gogue | Greek (agogos) via Latin/French | leader, bringer, promoter (in borrowings) | demagogue, pedagogue, synagogue | Found in classical borrowings; historical combining form (often spelled -gogue); not very productive in modern English. |
Descriptions
–gate
–gram
–graph
–graphy
–graphic
–genic
–genesis
–gen
–genous
–gene
–gamy
–gamous
–gynous
–gyny
–gon
–gonal
–grade
–gress
–gnosis
–gogue