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 F  

-formes Also -iformes.

Orders of animals.

[Latin, plural of forma, form.]

Terms here are systematic names, mainly for orders of birds, but also fish. All contain the linking vowel -i- before the ending. Examples are Perciformes (Latin perca, perch), a large order of nearly half of all bony fishes, including perch; Anguilliformes (Latin anguilla, eel), an order comprising the eels; Passeriformes (Latin passer, sparrow), a large order of birds with feet adapted for perching, including all songbirds; Ciconiiformes (Latin ciconia, stork), the order that includes the herons, storks, and egrets; and Psittaciformes (Latin psittacus, parrot), the order of the parrots, parakeets and budgerigars.

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 and suggestions on the site are very welcome.