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DictionaryRoot: -itas
Latin

-itas

a quality or state

Forms

  • -itas
  • -itat- — Latin stem used outside the basic noun form.
  • -ity — English form developed through French.

Origin

Latin -tas, a suffix for abstract nouns, with a preceding i; the suffix continues an older Indo-European abstract-noun formation.

Note

Turns a description into something that can be discussed as a quality in its own right.

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An adult eagerly believes a vendor presenting a gold-painted pebble as precious, despite an obvious chipped area showing ordinary gray stone; readiness to believe without evidence, no readable claim, money or real product.
noun

credulity

kri-DOO-luh-tee/krɪˈduːləti/

Readiness to believe things too easily.

Etymology
credulLatineasily believing, trustful
+ityLatina quality or state

The pieces name the quality of believing readily. English credulity once meant simply faith or belief, but developed the critical sense of believing too easily while disregarding evidence.

Full entry

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