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Affixes: the building blocks of English
Affixes: the building blocks of English
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-idae

Taxonomic groups.

[Latin, from Greek -idai, plural of -idēs, offspring of.]

In animal classifications, the ending indicates a family (a group of genera): the Laridae family contains the gulls and terns; Amoebidae the amoebas; Felidae the cats, including the lions and tigers. In plants, such names usually refer to a higher classification variously called a superorder or subclass. For example, the Liliidae contains the lilies and orchids and the Rosidae the roses and many other plants. See also -ae and -inae.

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