a letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to make another word, such as -ly in quickly or -ness in sadness compare affix, prefixTopics Languageb1后缀,词尾(加在词尾,用以构成新词,如 quickly 中的 -ly 或 sadness 中的 -ness) Word Originlate 18th cent. (as a noun): from modern Latin suffixum, neuter past participle (used as a noun) of Latin suffigere, from sub- ‘subordinately’ + figere ‘fasten’.