-ón

See also: Appendix:Variations of "on"

Galician

Alternative forms

• -om (reintegrationist)
• -ão (reintegrationist)

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese -on, probably from the ending of Latin words belonging to the Third Declension (-ō, -ōnem), used sometimes to change the sense or usage of original term. In this case, Galician -ón would be cognate to Portuguese -ão, Spanish -ón, Italian -one and French -on, compare Romanian -oi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈoŋ/

Suffix

-ón m (noun-forming suffix, plural -óns, feminine -ona, feminine plural -onas)

2. (added to verbs) a person or thing that does an action indicated by the root verb; used to form an agent noun

   ‎ornear (“to horn, trumpet”) + ‎-ón → ‎orneón (“drone of a bagpipe”)

   ‎pisar (“to press”) + ‎-ón → ‎pisón (“rammer”)

   ‎podar (“to prune”) + ‎-ón → ‎podón (“prunning hook”)

3. forms a noun from a different (usually larger) but related or similar one

   ‎abella (“bee”) + ‎-ón → ‎abellón (“drone”)

   ‎cagalla (“dropping”) + ‎-ón → ‎cagallón (“turd”)

   ‎caixa (“box”) + ‎-ón → ‎caixón (“drawer”)

4. forms the augmentative of nouns

Derived terms

Galician terms suffixed with -ón

abellón

agrión

baldón

bruión

bugallón

cabanón

cabrón

cagallón

caixón

calzón

camarón

camballón

cambón

cantón

cartón

cascón

castrón

chorón

cichón

cimón

coirón

colchón

comichón

couzón

dentón

empurrón

empuxón

fervón

fodón

folión

fungón

galeón

garrafón

lacón

lambón

larfón

leirón

leitón

mangallón

marañón

montón

narneón

negrón

nifrón

orneón

outón

papallóns

papón

pedichón

petón

picón

pingallón

pisón

podón

regatón

releón

relón

rifón

rinchón

roncón

roñón

rosmón

saltón

serrón

terrón

xergón

zoupón

Ligurian

Etymology

From Latin -ōne(m), accusative of -ō (3^rd declension noun suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈuŋ/

Suffix

-ón m (plural -oìn, feminine -ónn-a)

1. Emphasizes that something is large, grand, intense, important

   ‎mêgo (“physician”) + ‎-ón → ‎mêgón (“healer”)

2. Used with a verb stem to form agent nouns

   ‎giastemâ (“to blaspheme”) + ‎-ón → ‎giastemón (“blasphemer”)

Ligurian terms suffixed with -ón

crastón

forcón

giastemón

mêgón

vegión

öxelón

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈon/ [ˈõn]
• Rhymes: -on
• Syllabification: -ón

Etymology 1

Probably from the ending of Latin words belonging to the Third Declension (-ō, -ōnem), used sometimes to change the sense or usage of original term. In this case, Spanish -ón would be cognate to Portuguese -ão, Italian -one, French -on (whence English -oon), and Romanian -oi.

Suffix

-ón m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ones, feminine -ona, feminine plural -onas)
-ón (adjective-forming suffix, feminine -ona, masculine plural -ones, feminine plural -onas)

1. (intensive) emphasizes that something is large, grand, intense, important

   ‎problema + ‎-ón → ‎problemón (“a big trouble”)

2. (intensive) indicates that someone or something has large attributes, or larger than usual

   ‎ceja + ‎-ón → ‎cejón (“having large eyebrows”)

   ‎cabeza + ‎-ón → ‎cabezón (“having large head”)

3. for few cases, indicates that something is used wrong or frequently (forming adjectives and or nouns)

   ‎boca + ‎-ón → ‎bocón (“big-mouth, big-mouthed, boastful”)

4. emphasizes contempt for subject
5. forms a noun from a different (usually larger) but related or similar one

   ‎silla (“chair”) + ‎-ón → ‎sillón (“armchair”)

   ‎caja (“box”) + ‎-ón → ‎cajón (“drawer”)

6. suffixed to verbs, doing something repeatedly or often

   ‎llorar + ‎-ón → ‎llorón (“something or someone that cries”)

   ‎mirar + ‎-ón → ‎mirón (“something or someone that watches”)

8. (rare, diminutive) for very few cases, indicates small size of or a lack of something (such as an ironic augmentative)

   ‎pelo + ‎-ón → ‎pelón (“with little or no hair”)

   ‎rabo + ‎-ón → ‎rabón (“with little or no tail”)

   ‎rata (“rat”) + ‎-ón → ‎ratón (“mouse”)

   ‎tapa + ‎-ón → ‎tapón (“cork, stopper, a little cover or lid”)

   ‎monte + ‎-ón → ‎montón (“heap, pile, a "little mountain"”); although its origin may be a comparison with a little mountain of something, it also means "big amount"

Usage notes

• The suffix produces adjectives or nouns.
• Some Spanish words ending with this suffix have neither a Latin nor a Greek etymology, but an Arabic one:
  • algodón, rincón, limón
• Many Spanish words end with -on (lacking a written accent, being always paroxytone), but most of those cases is an inflection for the third-person plural (ellos, ellas, also used with ustedes) preterite indicative form of a verb:
  • amaron, hablaron, corrieron, dijeron, etc.

See also

• -azo
• -oso
• -ote
• -udo

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English -on, a suffix extracted from argon, krypton and neon, the first three noble gases to be named, respectively from Ancient Greek ἀργόν (argón, “lazy, inactive”), κρυπτόν (kruptón, “hidden”) and νέον (néon, “new”); hence, ultimately from Ancient Greek -ον (-on), cognate with Latin -um.

Suffix

-ón m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ones)

1. (chemistry) ending of every chemical element belonging only to the noble gases group, except helium (in Spanish helio)

   neón, criptón, argón, xenón, radón

Usage notes

• Aside from the group of noble gases, 1 element in the periodic table ends with "a" (plata), 1 with "c" (zinc), 2 with "e" (azufre, cobre), 1 with "l" (níquel), 1 with "r" (flúor), none with "ón" and the rest with "o"; boron = boro, carbon = carbono (carbón means charcoal), silicon = silicio.

Etymology 3

Borrowed from English -on, a suffix extracted from electron, originally a blend of electric + ion, named by Irish physicist George Johnstone Stoney.

Suffix

-ón m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ones)

1. (nuclear physics) ending of most or every subatomic particle

   protón, electrón, neutrón, bosón, hadrón

Further reading

• “-ón”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10