-monascomb. form
Primary stress is attracted either to the first syllable of this combining form or to the syllable immediately preceding this combining form. Vowels may be reduced accordingly. See e.g.
pseudomonas n.Origin: A borrowing from Greek. Etymon: Greek μονάς.
Etymology: < ancient Greek μονάς (see monad n.).This combining form is of limited distribution, being virtually restricted to the words chlamydomonas, leptomonas, Nitrosomonas, pseudomonas, and trichomonas. These generally represent scientific Latin words coined in French and German contexts from the first half of the 19th cent. onwards.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2019).