-tropy

1. a combining form occurring in abstract nouns that correspond to adjectives ending in -tropic or -tropous:

   neurotropy.

Word History and Origins

Origin of -tropy¹

< Greek -tropia. See -trope, -y ³

Example Sentences

The spinning orange marsupial Crash is back to thwart the interdimensional plans of his archenemies Dr. Neo Cortex and Dr. N. Tropy by collecting and wielding the powers of four Quantum Masks to restore order to the multiverse.

From Washington Times

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time picks up decades after the events of Warped, back when you defeated antagonists Neo Cortex, Dr. N. Tropy, and Uka Uka and left them stranded on a distant planet.

From The Verge

Tropy hunting of lions remains big business – the number killed has tripled to 1,500 a year in the last decade – but, perhaps surprisingly, Macdonald and Loveridge do not want an instant ban.

From The Guardian

A 2-1 collapse to Aston Villa in the FA Cup semifinals on Sunday ended Rodgers’ last track to a tropy this season.

From Washington Times

Words That Use -tropy

What does -tropy mean?

The combining form –tropy is used like a suffix to form abstract nouns corresponding to adjectives ending in -tropic and -tropous, such as how neurotropy is the quality of being neurotropic.

These endings variously denote “turning, changing, reacting, responding.” Learn more about -tropic and -tropous at our Words That Use articles for the forms.

The form -tropy ultimately comes from the Greek trópos, “turn,” and tropḗ, “a turning.” The Greek trópos is also the source of the words trope and tropical. It’s your turn to make the connection between “turning,” figures of speech, and the tropics at our entries for the words.

What are variants of -tropy?

In some instances, -tropism is used as a variant of -tropy, as in hydrotropism.

Corresponding forms of -tropy combined to the beginning of words are tropo- and trop-, which you learn more about at our Words That Use articles for the forms.

Examples of -tropy

Syntropy is “the occasional tendency of two diseases to coalesce into one,” among other senses.

The first part of the word, syn–, means “with” or “together.” The second part of the word, –tropy, indicates “turning” or “changing.” Syntropy, then, literally translates to “turning or changing together.”

Related to the word syntropy is entropy, the tendency of a system toward disorder. Make some order out of this important concept at our entry for the word.

What are some words that use the combining form -tropy?

 

• aeolotropy
• allotropy
• anisotropy
• azeotropy
• enantiotropy
• ionotropy
• isotropy
• monotropy
• thixotropy

 

 

What are some other forms that -tropy may be commonly confused with?

• -tomy
• -troph
• -trophic
• -trophy

Break it down!

Isotropy is a physics term for the “state of having equal physical properties along all axes.” Given that the form aniso- means “unequal,” what is the state of anisotropy characterized by?