-ity  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

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1. Used to form a noun from an adjective; especially, to form the noun referring to the state, property, or quality of conforming to the adjective's description.}}
2. Used to form other nouns, especially abstract nouns. such as proclivity

Usage notes

• Many nouns formed with -ity are uncountable; those that are countable form their plurals in -ities.
• The addition of -ity to an adjective results in a shift of stress to the antepenultimate syllable; that is, words in -ity are stressed on the last syllable before the -ity, even in cases where this syllable is part of another suffix (as in words in -ability, -ivity, and -icity). Further, this shift typically results in a change in vowel quality; compare, for example, real and reality, where the sound Template:IPAchar in the second word is not present in the first. These vowel quality changes are usually consistent with the spelling of both forms — note that the letter <a> in the second word is present in the first — but is pronounced Template:IPAchar, before -ity it becomes Template:IPAchar; compare, for example, elastic and elasticity.
• Final -e is dropped before adding this suffix.

Derived terms

• -ability
• -ality
• -ibility
• -icity
• -ivity
• -osity