Word-Building Endings: -tor, -tio, -tas, -ulus
Endings That Build New Words
Add -tor for a doer, -tio for an action, -tas for a quality and -ulus for something small.
How It Works
| Ending | Job | Latin | English cousin |
|---|---|---|---|
| -tor | the doer | actor (from agere), pastor (from pascere) | actor, pastor |
| -tio | the action | actio (from agere), oratio (from orare) | action, oration |
| -tas | the quality | libertas (from liber), civitas (from civis) | liberty, city |
| -ulus | something small | hortulus (from hortus), filiolus (from filius) | circle, globule |
The endings -tor and -tio are added to the fourth dictionary form without -um: actum gives actor and actio.
The small ending is -ulus, or -olus after a vowel, as in filiolus. Words in -tas and -tio are feminine, and words in -tor are masculine.
Examples (5)
- Actor fabulam agit.
The actor performs a play.
Actor is the doer of agere.
- Oratio brevis est.
The prayer is short.
Oratio is the action of orare.
- Libertas bona est.
Freedom is good.
Libertas is the quality of being liber, free.
- Hortulus pulcher est.
The little garden is beautiful.
Hortulus is a small hortus.
- Ego sum pastor bonus.
I am the good shepherd.
From John 10:11. Pastor is the doer of pascere, to feed.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Latin endings build new words, as English suffixes do.
Related Patterns
Words in This Pattern
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