suffix of sbs. 1. repr. Gr. -άδ-α (nom. -άς) forming, a. Collective numerals, as μονάς unity, monad, so dyad, triad, tetrad, pentad (especially used to class chemical elements or radicals according to the number of their combining units); hebdomad, chiliad, myriad, etc.; also perissad, Olympiad; decade retains final e from Fr. b. Feminine patronymics (in which it is a phonetic variant of -id), in proper names of females and districts, as Dryad, Naiad, Troad; often in pl. as Pleiad-es, Hyad-es, Cyclad-es. Hence c. in names of Poems, as Iliad, ‘the lay (ᾠδή) of Ilium,’ often imitated in modern times, as Lusiad, Dunciad, Rosciad, Columbiad; and d. used by Lindley to form family names of plants akin to a genus, as alismad, liliad, trilliad, asclepiad, etc. (on words in -a or after a vowel; otherwise -id, as in orchid). 2. a. Fr. ade-, in salad, ballad; see -ADE the more usual form.
