Go to 'thermo-' entry Go to 'dino-' entry Go to 'chondro-' entry Go to 'aero-' entry Go to '-logy' entry Go to 'thaumato-' entry Go to 'nano-' entry Go to '-sophy' entry Go to 'bucco-' entry Go to '-ism' entry Go to '-lysis' entry Go to 'galacto-' entry Go to '-anthropy' entry Go to 'pneumo-' entry Go to '-ploitation' entry Go to '-lithic' entry Go to '-sepalous' entry Go to 'onco-' entry Go to '-parous' entry Go to 'dermato-' entry Go to 'multi-' entry Go to 'dodeca-' entry Go to '-zoon' entry Go to 'vermi-' entry Go to 'crystallo-' entry Go to 'biblio-' entry Go to 'eco-' entry Go to 'juxta-' entry Go to 'facio-' entry
Affixes: the building blocks of English
Affixes: the building blocks of English
  Home Introduction About the author Types of affixes Thematic indexes Search the site   A B C D E F G H I JK L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z   Previous entry Next entry Up to index of A  

-aire

A person characterized by or linked to the idea in the stem.

[French -ier or -aire, derived from Latin words in -arius.]

Some examples are millionaire, a person whose assets are worth one million pounds or dollars or more (and other words formed in imitation of it, such as billionaire and zillionaire); commissionaire, a uniformed door attendant at a hotel or theatre (medieval Latin commissionarius, a person in charge); and concessionaire, the holder of a concession or grant. Doctrinaire is now usually an adjective referring to an attempt to impose a doctrine without regard to practical considerations. See also -ar2, -ary1, -er1, and -eer.

Visit Michael Quinion’s World Wide Words site for 2000+ articles on English!

Copyright © Michael Quinion 2008–. All rights reserved. Page last updated 23 September 2008.
Your comments are very welcome.