The building blocks of English

Affixes

-ado

Forming a variety of words based on Portuguese, Spanish, or Italian originals.

Spanish and Portuguese ‑ado, or Italian ‑ata or Spanish ‑ada, based on Latin ‑atus, the past participial suffix of verbs ending in ‑are.

Words in ‑ado form a disparate group whose only link is European languages descended from Latin. Examples include aficionado, amontillado, avocado, bravado, incommunicado, and tornado. See also ‑ade.

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