Here you’ll find 15 Suffixes that start with Z, organized from “-zilla” to “-zyme”. These endings include modern coinages and brand-influenced forms. They also include scientific terms that form nouns and adjectives.
Suffixes that start with Z are word endings you add to roots to form new words or shift meaning. Many come from Greek or playful coinage; “-zilla” is a notable pop-culture example.
Below you’ll find the table with Origin, Meaning and Example words.
Origin: Shows the language or period the suffix comes from, so you can judge historical flavor or likely usage.
Meaning: Gives a short sense of what the suffix contributes, helping you pick the right ending for a word.
Example words: Lists two to four attested words that use the suffix, so you can see real-world forms and contexts.
Suffixes that start with Z
| Suffix | Origin | Meaning | Example words |
|---|---|---|---|
| –zilla | Japanese (Godzilla) via English coinage, 20th c. | monstrous, exaggerated version of X | bridezilla (productive), momzilla (productive), despotzilla |
| –zine | English (clipping of magazine), 20th c. | small or specialized periodical/publication | fanzine (productive), ezine (productive), zine (productive) |
| –zoan | Greek zoon ‘animal’; scientific coinage 19th c. | animal; organism (combining form) | protozoan (productive), metazoan (productive) |
| –zoic | Greek zoon + -ic; Late 18th–19th c. | pertaining to animals; geological era | Paleozoic (productive), Mesozoic (productive), Cenozoic (productive) |
| –zoa | Greek zoon (plural); 19th c. | animals; taxonomic group (plural combining form) | Protozoa (productive), Metazoa (productive) |
| –zoon | Greek zoon; 19th c. | animal; organism (singular combining form) | protozoon (obs.), metazoon (obs.) |
| –zygous | Greek zygoun ‘to yoke’; 19th c. | having a paired condition; “yoked” (genetic state) | homozygous (productive), heterozygous (productive), hemizygous (productive) |
| –zygote | Greek zygōtēs ‘joined’; 19th c. | relating to or denoting a zygote or joined gametes | homozygote (productive), heterozygote (productive) |
| –zyme | Greek zymē ‘leaven, ferment’; 19th–20th c. | enzyme; catalytic agent | lysozyme (productive), ribozyme (productive), zymase (technical) |
| –zoology | Greek zoon + -logy; 19th c. | study of animals; discipline or field | cryptozoology (productive), paleozoology (technical), archaeozoology (technical) |
| –zooid | Greek zoon + -oid ‘form’; 19th c. | individual animal in a colony; animal-like form | zooid (technical, productive), nectozoid (technical), blastozooid (technical) |
| –zone | Greek zōnē ‘belt, girdle’ via Latin/French; 19th c. | area, belt, region; stratigraphic/ ecological unit | ecozone (productive), chronozone (technical), thermozone (technical) |
| –zoography | Greek zoon + -graphy; 18th–19th c. | description or account of animals | zoography (rare), palaeozography (rare, obs.) |
| –zoal | Greek zoon + -al; 19th c. | relating to animals; adjectival form | protozoal (technical), metazoal (technical) |
| –zootic | Greek zoon + -otic; 19th c. | relating to animal disease or animal populations | enzootic (productive), epizootic (productive), zoonotic (productive) |
Descriptions
–zilla
Slangalike, humorous suffix from the monster Godzilla; very productive in informal English to create hyperbolic “monster” variants.
–zine
A clipped, informal suffix forming names of niche magazines or internet publications; common in fandom and online culture.
–zoan
Biological combining form used to name types or groups of organisms; common in zoology and microbiology.
–zoic
Used chiefly in geology to name eras (Paleozoic etc.); technical but widely known outside specialist circles.
–zoa
Taxonomic/biological plural combining form for groups of animals; frequent in biological literature and textbooks.
–zoon
Older biological combining form largely replaced by -zoan/-zoa; mainly historical or found in older scientific literature.
–zygous
Standard technical suffix in genetics describing zygosity; widely used in biology and medicine.
–zygote
Forms nouns naming zygote types; technical in genetics and pairs naturally with -zygous derivatives.
–zyme
Combining element in names for enzymes or catalytic RNAs; specialized to biochemistry but productive for coinages.
–zoology
Combines zoo- and -logy to form names of disciplines studying animals; common in academic and popular contexts.
–zooid
Technical zoological term for individuals in colonial animals; used in specialist descriptions and taxonomy.
–zone
Combining form meaning a “zone” or region; common in ecology, geology, and stratigraphy terminology.
–zoography
Rare, mostly historical combining form for descriptive accounts of animals; now largely replaced by other compounds.
–zoal
Adjectival combining form used in medical and biological contexts to mean “of or relating to animals” or specific animal groups.
–zootic
Used in epidemiology and veterinary science to describe disease patterns or conditions affecting animals; technical but widely used.