Header image of wall of bricks Open menu Close menu

-and

A person or thing to be treated in a specified way.

Latin verb forms ‑andus, ‑anda, and ‑andum, which function as adjectives.

Words usually have a passive sense of something or somebody which is to suffer some action. A multiplicand (Latin multiplicandus, to be multiplied) is a quantity which is to be multiplied by another; an operand (Latin operandum, on which labour is to be expended) is a quantity on which a mathematical operation is to be carried out; an ordinand (Latin ordinandus, being put in order) is a person under training to be ordained as a priest or minister.

A small number of modern technical terms have been created using ‑and: analysand (from analyse), a person undergoing psychoanalysis, ligand (Latin ligandus, that can be tied), an ion or molecule attached to a metal atom by coordinate bonding, and proband (Latin probandus, to be proved), a person serving as the starting point for the genetic study of a family.

Copyright © Michael Quinion 2008–. All rights reserved. Your comments are very welcome.