suffix · masculinethird declension
-fex
-fex m or f (genitive -ficis)
Classical[fɛks]Ecclesiastical[feks]
Meaning
- femininemasculinemorphemedenotes maker or performer
ars (“art”) + -fex → artifex (“artist”)
pānis (“bread”) + -fex → pānifex (“bread-maker, baker”)
Origins
Equivalent to faciō + -s. Inherited from Proto-Italic *-faks, from earlier *-θaks, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁k-s, the root noun of *dʰeh₁-k-, an extension of *dʰeh₁- (“to do; to place”). Related to Ancient Greek θεός (theós).