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Affixes: the building blocks of English
Affixes: the building blocks of English
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lepid(o)-

Scales.

[Gk lepis, lepid-, a scale.]

The Lepidoptera (Greek pteron, wing) are the butterflies and moths, so called because they have four scale-covered wings; hence a lepidopterist is a person who studies or collects butterflies and moths; lepidolite is a mineral of the mica group, occurring in layers; a plant that is lepidote is covered with scale-like hairs. The word leper (Greek lepra, scaly) for a person suffering from leprosy came about because of the characteristic skin lesions.

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