*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of -ous

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *h₃édosder.? Proto-Italic *-ŏ̄dsos? Old Latin -ōssus Latin -ōsus Old French -usbor. Middle English -ous English -ous From Middle Engl

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In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
suffix

possession of · presence of a quality in any degree (typically an abundance) · relation or pertinence to · Used in chemical nomenclature to name chemical compounds in which a specified chemical element has a lower oxidation number than in the equivalent compound whose name ends in the suffix -ic. For example sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄) has more oxygen atoms per molecule than sulphurous acid (H₂SO₃). See Inorganic nomenclature.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *h₃édosder.? Proto-Italic *-ŏ̄dsos? Old Latin -ōssus Latin -ōsus Old French -usbor. Middle English -ous English -ous From Middle English -ous, from Old French -ous, -os, -us, from Latin -ōsus (“full of”). Doublet of -ose and -wise in unstressed position. Many English adjectives ending in -ous were taken from preexisting French or Latin adjectives that end in one of the above suffixes (e.g. envious corresponds directly to Old French envious which in turn corresponds directly to Latin invidiōsus). In addition, -ous (or the variant form -ious) has at times been attached to English nouns to form derived adjectives that lack precedents in French or Latin, such as slumberous from slumber or blizzardous from blizzard. It has also been used in some cases as a means of adapting adjectives borrowed from Latin that originally ended simply in -us, -a, -um (for example, obvious and previous are derived from Latin obvius and praevius, not *obviōsus or *praeviōsus).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mention-ousenm
  • Derivation mention-ousfro
  • Derivation mention-ōsusla · full of
  • Doublet mention-oseen
  • Doublet mention-wiseen
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:-ous",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *h₃ed-\nProto-Indo-European *-os\nProto-Indo-European *h₃édosder.?\nProto-Italic *-ŏ̄dsos?\nOld Latin -ōssus\nLatin -ōsus\nOld French -usbor.\nMiddle English -ous\nEnglish -ous\n[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"alt\" : \"*-ŏ̄dsos\", \"is_uncertain\" : true, \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Italic\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"der.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Derived from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"alt\" : \"*h₃édos\", \"is_uncertain\" : true, \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"smell\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*h₃ed-\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" }, { \"id\" : \"athematic\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-os\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang\" : \"itc-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old Latin\", \"term\" : \"-ōssus\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"itc-ola\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"-ōsus\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old French\", \"term\" : \"-us\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"fro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"-ous\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"-ous\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"-ous\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "-ous"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English -ous"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "-ous"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French -ous"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "-ōsus",
        "t": "full of"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin -ōsus (“full of”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "-ose",
        "3": "-wise"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of -ose and -wise"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
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        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:-ous",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *h₃ed-\nProto-Indo-European *-os\nProto-Indo-European *h₃édosder.?\nProto-Italic *-ŏ̄dsos?\nOld Latin -ōssus\nLatin -ōsus\nOld French -usbor.\nMiddle English -ous\nEnglish -ous"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*h₃ed-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₃ed-#Proto-Indo-European:_smell"
    ],
    [
      "*-os",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-os#Proto-Indo-European:_athematic"
    ],
    [
      "-ōssus",
      "-ossus#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "-ōsus",
      "-osus#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "-us",
      "-us#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "-ous",
      "-ous#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "-ous",
      "-ous#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "-ous",
      "-ous#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "-os",
      "-ous#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "-us",
      "-ous#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "-ōsus",
      "-osus#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "-ose",
      "-ose#English"
    ],
    [
      "-wise",
      "-wise#English"
    ],
    [
      "envious",
      "envious#English"
    ],
    [
      "envious",
      "envious#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "invidiōsus",
      "invidiosus#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "-ious",
      "-ious#English"
    ],
    [
      "slumberous",
      "slumberous#English"
    ],
    [
      "slumber",
      "slumber#English"
    ],
    [
      "blizzardous",
      "blizzardous#English"
    ],
    [
      "blizzard",
      "blizzard#English"
    ],
    [
      "obvious",
      "obvious#English"
    ],
    [
      "previous",
      "previous#English"
    ],
    [
      "obvius",
      "obvius#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "praevius",
      "praevius#Latin"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "suffix",
      "glosses": [
        "possession of",
        "presence of a quality in any degree (typically an abundance)",
        "relation or pertinence to",
        "Used in chemical nomenclature to name chemical compounds in which a specified chemical element has a lower oxidation number than in the equivalent compound whose name ends in the suffix -ic. For example sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄) has more oxygen atoms per molecule than sulphurous acid (H₂SO₃). See Inorganic nomenclature."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "morpheme"
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      "rawRecordSha256": "c1383a9f08f2d1ee3b16d0ad52244db64b2909b6c56b0c714d02849f33a1fe8f",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 182065
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
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    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for -ous →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-LW91cw