Word origin
[‹ Gk
diánoia the intellect, a thought, notion, belief, equiv. to
dia- dia- +
no(
eîn) to think +
-ia -ia]dia- is a prefix occurring in loanwords from Greek (diabetes; dialect) and used, in the formation of compound words, to mean “passing through” (diathermy), “thoroughly,” “completely” (diagnosis), “going apart” (dialysis), and “opposed in moment” (diamagnetism); -ia is a noun suffix having restricted application in various fields, as in names ofdiseases (malaria; anemia), place names (Italia; Romania), names of Roman feasts (Lupercalia), Latin or Latinizing plurals (Amphibia; insignia; Reptilia), and in other loanwords from Latin (militia)