-ian +

(Latin: suffix form of -an from -ianus, a modifier of the main word to which it is attached: belonging to, coming from, being involved in, or being like something)

Appearing in such words as comedian, egalitarian, Bostonian, Italian, Smithsonian, mathematician, Alabamian, Californian, Arizonian, and Canadian. It is attached to the root of common or proper nouns with the meanings "of, pertaining to, from", or "like" the proper name appearing in the stem.

—Based on information from The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology,
Edited by Robert K. Barnhart, The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.
abecedarian
1. Of or pertaining to the alphabet; marked with the alphabet; arranged in alphabetical order, as abecedarian psalms, like the 119th.
2. Occupied with learning the alphabet, or pertaining to one so occupied.
3. One engaged in teaching the alphabet and the merest rudiments of instruction.
academician (s) (adjective), academicians (pl)
A member of an academy or society concerned with the arts or sciences: The academicians and researchers have been entering their essays in the noted scientific publications for all the universities.
acanthopterygian (s) (noun), acanthopterygians (pl)
Any of a large group of fishes with bony skeletons and hard, spiny rays in the dorsal and anal fins: The sunfish, perch, bass, porgy, mackeral, and swordfish all belong to the acanthopterygians.
acararian (adjective) (not comparable)
Pertaining to, caused by, or of the nature of an acarus (mite): The loss of the honey crop was attributed to the acararian invasion of a new species of mites that attacked the hives.
acoustician (s) (noun), acousticians (pl)
An expert who knows how to deal with the properties of sound: One occupation of an acoustician is someone who fits hard-of-hearing people with hearing aids.

After her university training, Alice was able to get a job working for a hearing aid company, working as an acoustician who was developing more efficient hearing devices.

aeolian, eolian (adjective); more aeolian, more eolian; most aeolian, most eolian
Pertaining to the effect of the wind: The aeolian action of the sand dunes in many African deserts resemble ocean waves.
agrarian (adjective), more agrarian, most agrarian
1. In Roman history, relating to the land: An agrarian epithet of a law (Lex agraria) was intended for the division of conquered lands.
2. Relating to, or connected with, landed property: In the book that Jane was reading, agrarian reforms were in progress to improve the status of famers tending to their farm land.
3. Of, relating to, or connected with cultivated land or its cultivation: A agrarian calendar is still used in schools to indicate when children are needed at home to do planting or harvesting in the summer.
4. In botany, pertaining to plants growing wild in the fields: The agrarian flowers and thistles were absolutely beautiful in the open meadows.

The name for an agrarian region was proposed for the lowest of the altitudinal zones of vegetation within the limits of the cultivation of corn.

agrestian (s) (noun), agrestians (pl)
Someone who belongs to the country; rustic: Sam was an agrestian who maintained his his characteristics, and mannerisms that were typical of the rural area where he lived.
altitudinarian (adjective)
1. Pertaining to, or reaching to, the heights (of fancy, doctrine, etc.).
2. Someone who has lofty aims, thoughts, or plans: "Joe Kurt had an altitudinarian objective of being high in moral and intellectual values as a politician."
amphibian
A cold-blooded vertebrate that spends some time on land but must breed and develop into an adult in water. Frogs, salamanders, and toads are amphibians.
An example of an amphibian.
Word Info image © Copyright, 2006.
antediluvian (adjective) (not comparable)
1. Characteristic of someone or something that seems to be very old and out of touch with current activities, events, etc.: Alfred appeared very frustrated, saying that his parents had antediluvian ideas regarding their behavior expectations for him.
2. Descriptive of the period of history before the Biblical Flood, including events, individuals, and animals: The ancient patriarchs living in the antediluvian days of antiquity foretold of future catastrophes, such as flooding.
Behind the times or anticuated.
© ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.

antemeridian, antemeridiem (A.M.)
1. Of or belonging to the forenoon or "morning".
2. Before midday; applicable to the hours between midnight and the following noon.
antiquarian
Of or connected with the study of antiquities.
aphidian
A reference to an aphid.
aphrodisian
Pertaining to Aphrodite or Venus.