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Origin and history of -ad

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word-forming element of Greek origin appended to nouns and denoting collective numerals (triad, Olympiad) and fem. patronymics (Dryad, Naiad, also, in plural, Pleiades, Hyades), thence also plant family names; from Greek -as (genitive -ados), fem. suffix equivalent to -is.

From its use in Iliad (literally "of Ilion," that is, "Troy;" from Ilias poiesis or oidos "poem of Ilion," the accompanying noun being feminine, hence the termination) it has formed titles of poems in imitation of it (Columbiad, Dunciad).

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dryad(n.)

nymph of the woods, 1550s (plural Driades is attested from late 14c.), from Latin dryas, from Greek dryas (plural dryades) "wood nymph," from drus (genitive dryos) "oak," from PIE root *deru- "be firm, solid, steadfast," with specialized senses "wood, tree." Translated in Old English as wuduælfen. Related: Dryadic.

Hyades

star cluster in constellation Taurus (generally pictured as forming the head of the bull), late 14c., from Greek Hyades, popularly explained by the ancients as "rain-bringers" (from hyein "to rain"), because wet weather supposedly began coincidentally with their heliacal rising; but probably rather from hys "swine" (the popular Latin word for the star-group was Suculae "piglets, little pigs"), from PIE *su- "pig" (see sow (n.)). Grimm ("Teutonic Mythology") lists the Anglo-Saxon glosses of Hyades as Raedgastran, Raedgasnan, Redgaesrum.

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oread
a mountain nymph," "1580s, from Latin Oreas (genitive Oreadis), from Greek Oreias "mountain nymph," from oros "mountain, height," also (in Egypt) "desert," in contrast to the cultivated plain, probably from PIE *heros- "elevation." Also see -ad. Attested in English from late 14c.
abate
down, strike down; fell, destroy; abolish; reduce, lower" (Modern French abattre), from Vulgar Latin *abbatere, from Latin ad..."to" (see ad-) + battuere "to beat" (see batter (v.))....
confutation
Confutation of the person in logic is argument ad hominem....
introit
to celebrate mass," late 15c., from Old French introite "(liturgical) introit; entrance" (14c.), from Latin (antiphona ad...
famish
a shortening of Old French afamer (12c., Modern French affamer), from Vulgar Latin *affamare "to bring to hunger," from ad...
apagoge
"demonstration of a proposition by the refutation of its opposite, indirect proof, reductio ad absurdum," from Greek apagogē...
impanate
The Adessenarians (1751, from Latin adesse "be present," from ad- "to" + esse "be") believed in the real presence of Christ's...
disciple
Old English discipul (fem. discipula), "one who follows another for the purpose of learning," especially "the personal followers of Jesus Christ during his life, the twelve Apostles chosen or called by him to be his immediate associates," a Biblical borrowing from Latin discipulu
edifice
late 14c., from Old French edifice "building" (12c.), from Latin aedificium "building," from aedificare "to erect a building," from aedis, variant of aedes "temple, sanctuary," usually a single edifice without partitions, also, in the plural, "dwelling house, building," originall
apocalypse
late 14c., "revelation, disclosure," from Church Latin apocalypsis "revelation," from Greek apokalyptein "uncover, disclose, reveal," from apo "off, away from" (see apo-) + kalyptein "to cover, conceal" (from PIE root *kel- (1) "to cover, conceal, save"). The Christian end-of-the

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