-ite1
suffix
- 1forming names denoting natives of a country: Israelite Samnite
- often derogatory denoting followers of a movement, doctrine, etc.: Luddite Jacobite
- 2used in scientific and technical terms.
- forming names of fossil organisms: ammonite
- forming names of minerals: graphite
- forming names of constituent parts of a body or organ: somite
- forming names of explosives and other commercial products: dynamite vulcanite
- Chemistry forming names of salts or esters of acids ending in -ous: sulfite
Origin:
from French -ite, via Latin -ita from Greek ītes