The suffix -ine indicates which meaning?

• A. Pain
• B. Without
• C. Pertaining to
• D. Element

Answer: (C)

Suffixes in medical terms often signal relation to or resemblance of something. The ending -ine is commonly used to form adjectives that mean pertaining to or resembling. For example, uterine describes something related to the uterus, canine describes something related to dogs or their teeth, and feline describes things related to cats. So this ending points to meaning “pertaining to.” It doesn’t convey pain (that’s typically -algia), it doesn’t mean without (usually a- or in- prefixes), and it doesn’t denote an element (that would be a different formation).