-ious

1. variant of -ous, added to stems of Latin origin, often with corresponding nouns ending in -ity: atrocious; hilarious.

-ious

suffix

1. characterized by or full of Compare -eous

   ambitious

   religious

   suspicious

Word History and Origins

Origin of -ious¹

Middle English ≪ Latin -iōsus ( -i-, -ose ¹ ) and Latin -ius (masculine singular adj. ending, as in varius )

Word History and Origins

Origin of -ious¹

from Latin -ius and -iōsus full of

Example Sentences

The Bank of England buys bonds - essentially long term IOUs - from the UK government and corporations to increase bond prices and reduce longer term interest rates.

From BBC

Governments sell bonds - essentially IOUs - to borrow money from financial markets and in return they pay interest.

From BBC

A UC spokesman said “it could take several more months” for those IOUs to arrive.

From Los Angeles Times

"Christmas time it was just getting beyond a joke. I was going back to the pharmacy, probably two or three times in a month, just to collect the little IOUs and it was getting to the point where that, in itself, was becoming a stress," she said.

From BBC

That’s the pile of IOUs stored up over the last four decades as payroll tax revenue plumped outstripped annual costs.

From Washington Times