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Affixes: the building blocks of English
Affixes: the building blocks of English
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-phane Also -phan.

Having a given appearance.

[Greek -phanēs, appearing.]

This appears in several names for minerals, such as glaucophane (Greek glaukos, bluish-green), a bluish sodium-containing mineral of the amphibole group, and allophane (Greek allos, otherwise), an aluminium silicate whose colour is lost when heated. Other examples include lithophane (Greek lithos, stone), a kind of ornamentation of porcelain visible when held to the light; tryptophan (sometimes tryptophane), an amino acid which is a constituent of most proteins and is associated with trypsin, a digestive enzyme, as it is formed during digestion; and cellophane (from cellulose), a trademarked name for a thin transparent wrapping material made from viscose.

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