-idae

• -idæ

Plural of a Latin transliteration of Ancient Greek -ίδης (-ídēs), a patronymic suffix. Known to have been interpreted by some as representing instead the plural of a Latin transliteration of Ancient Greek -ειδής (-eidḗs, adjectival suffix), from εἶδος (eîdos, “appearance, resemblance”).

Proposed in 1811 by William Kirby, a British entomologist, to simplify and make uniform the system of Pierre André Latreille which divided insect orders into sections. See more on Wikipedia: Family (biology) § History.

-idae pl

1. (taxonomy) Used to form names of subclasses of plants.
2. (taxonomy) Used to form names of families of animals.

• -oidea
• -aceae

• Judith E. Winston. 1999. Describing Species. Columbia University Press
• Mayr, E., E. G. Linsley, and R. L. Usinger. 1953. Methods and Principles of Systematic. Zoology. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Savory, T. 1962. Naming the Living World. New York: Wiley.
• William Kirby. 1815. Strepsiptera, a new order of insects proposed; and the characters of the order, with those of its genera, laid down. The Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 11: 86–123, pls. 8–9. [read March 19, 1811.], page 88
• Phillip Henry Gosse, 1863. "The Blue Cyanæa." The Intellectual Observer 4: 149-156, page 153