Suffix

A suffix is is a bound morpheme (or affix) which attaches at the righthand side of a base, i.e. which follows it.

Comments

 * “The term “affix”, which was used in §§24 and 28, is grammatical: it subsumes bound forms of certain kinds. But the apparently parallel terms “prefix”, "suffix”, “infix” are not grammatical; they refer, rather to positional classes of the morphs which represent bound forms.” (Hockett 1958:286)

Example
the English morpheme -ness is a suffix, since it attaches to the right of adjectives (productiveness).

Synonyms

 * infix (in African linguistics)
 * ending (used especially for inflectional suffxes)
 * desinence (used especially for inflectional suffxes)

Origin
The OED's first attestation is from 1778. The term is derived from Latin suffīgere ‘attach’.

Reference

 * Hockett, Charles. 1958. A course in modern linguistics. New York: Macmillan.

Other languages

 * German Suffix (de)
 * Russian суффикс
 * Czech přípona, sufix
 * Spanish sufijo

Links
Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics