-ity

See also: ity and -itý

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əti/, /ɪti/; but see the usage notes below
• (General American) IPA^(key): /əti/, [əɾi], [ɾi], /ɪti/, [ɪɾi]

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /əti/, [əɾi]

Etymology 1

From Middle English -ite, -itee, from Old French -ite, -ete, -eteit (“-ity”), from Latin -itātem, from -itās, from Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts (suffix). Cognate with Gothic -𐌹𐌸𐌰 (-iþa, “-th”), Old High German -ida (“-th”), Old English -þo, -þu, -þ (“-th”). More at -th.

Alternative forms

• -ty
• ⠰⠽

Suffix

-ity

1. Used to form an uncountable noun from an adjective; especially, to form the noun referring to the state, property, or quality of conforming to the adjective's description.

   ‎absurd + ‎-ity → ‎absurdity (“the quality of being absurd or inconsistent with obvious truth, reason, or sound judgment”)

   ‎anonym(ous) + ‎-ity → ‎anonymity (“the quality or state of being anonymous”)

   ‎modern + ‎-ity → ‎modernity (“the quality of being modern or contemporary”)

   ‎precar(ious) + ‎-ity → ‎precarity (“a condition of existence without predictability or security, affecting material or psychological welfare”)

2. Used to form a countable noun from an adjective, referring to someone or something that conforms to the adjective's description.

   ‎absurd + ‎-ity → ‎[an] absurdity (“that which is absurd; an absurd action; a logical contradiction”)

   ‎anonym(ous) + ‎-ity → ‎[an] anonymity (“that which is anonymous”)

   ‎insipid + ‎-ity → ‎[an] insipidity (“something that is insipid; an insipid utterance, sight, object, etc.”)

   ‎odd + ‎-ity → ‎[an] oddity (“an odd or strange thing or opinion; a strange person; an oddball”)

3. Used to form other nouns, especially abstract nouns.

Usage notes

• Many nouns formed with -ity are uncountable; those that are countable form their plurals in -ities.
• Final -e is dropped before adding this suffix.
• Pronunciation:
  • The addition of -ity to an adjective results in a shift of stress to the antepenultimate syllable; that is, words in -ity are stressed on the last syllable before the -ity, even in cases where this syllable is part of another suffix (as in words in -ability and -icity). Further, this shift typically results in a change in vowel quality; compare, for example, real and reality, where the sound [æ] in the second word is not present in the first. These vowel quality changes are usually consistent with the spelling of both forms — note that the letter <a> in the second word is present in the first — but sometimes spelling changes are seen, as with the suffix -ous, which when it combines with -ity produces the suffix -osity.
  • While a final -c is pronounced [k], before -ity it becomes [s]; compare, for example, elastic and elasticity.

Derived terms

English terms suffixed with -ity

Related terms

• -ability, -ibility

Translations

Used to form nouns from adjectives.

• Afrikaans: -iteit
• Albanian: -itet m
• Armenian: -ություն (-utʻyun)
• Aromanian: -ãtati, -tati
• Asturian: -idá f, -dá f
• Bashkir: -лыҡ (-lıq), -лек (-lek), -лоҡ (-loq), -лөк (-lök)
• Basque: -itate
• Belarusian: -ітэ́т m (-itét)
• Catalan: -itat (ca) f, -tat (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 性 (zh) (xìng)

• Czech: -ita f
• Danish: -itet c, -hed (da) c
• Dutch: -heid (nl), -iteit (nl) f
• Estonian: -iteet
• Finnish: -uus (fi), -iteetti
• French: -ité (fr) f, -té (fr) f
• Friulian: -itât, -tât
• Galician: -dade (gl) f, -idade (gl) f
• German: -ität (de) f
• Greek: -ότητα (el) f (-ótita)
• Hebrew: ־וּת f (-ut)
• Hungarian: -itás (hu)
• Indonesian: -itas (id)
• Interlingua: -itate (ia)
• Italian: -ità f
• Japanese: 性 (ja) (sei)
• Korean: 성(性) (ko) (seong)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: -tî (ku) f, -îtî (ku) f, -ayetî (ku) f

• Latin: -itas f
• Latvian: -itāte
• Malay: -iti, -itet, -itas, ke--an
• Maltese: -ità f
• Middle English: -te, -ite
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: -itet (no)

  Nynorsk: -itet

• Occitan: -itat f
• Old English: -þu, -þ
• Polish: -ość (pl)
• Portuguese: -idade (pt) f, -dade (pt) f
• Romanian: -itate (ro) f, -tate (ro) f, -ătate (ro) f, -eață f, -ețe f, -ie (ro) f
• Russian: -ность f (-nostʹ), -ите́т (ru) m (-itét), -ство n (-stvo)
• Sicilian: -ità f, -itati f
• Slovak: -ita f
• Slovene: -nost f
• Spanish: -idad (es) f, -edad (es) f, -dad (es) f
• Swahili: u-
• Swedish: -het (sv) c, -itet (sv)
• Tagalog: -idad
• Turkish: -lük (tr), -luk (tr), -lık (tr), -lik (tr), -ite
• Ukrainian: -іте́т m (-itét)
• Yiddish: ־יטעט (-itet)

See also

• -ness, -hood, -ship, -itas, -itude, -th, -ia, -itia, -ability, -ibility, -icity, -osity, -ous, -ose

Etymology 2

Variant of -ety, likely an alteration of -edy, equivalent to -ed +‎ -y.

Suffix

-ity

1. Alternative form of -ety

   ‎hip + ‎-ity → ‎hippity, hippity-hop

Polish

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *-itъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈi.tɘ/
• Rhymes: -itɘ
• Syllabification: [please specify syllabification manually]

Suffix

-ity m

1. forms masculine adjectives

   ‎pracować + ‎-ity → ‎pracowity

Declension

Declension of -ity (hard)

singular					plural
	masculine animate	masculine inanimate	feminine	neuter	virile (= masculine personal)	non-virile
nominative	-ity		-ita	-ite	-ici	-ite
genitive	-itego		-itej	-itego	-itych
dative	-itemu		-itej	-itemu	-itym
accusative	-itego	-ity	-itą	-ite	-itych	-ite
instrumental	-itym		-itą	-itym	-itymi
locative	-itym		-itej	-itym	-itych

Derived terms

Polish terms suffixed with -ity

Further reading

• -ity in Polish dictionaries at PWN