Irwin Mortman writes: “I have been trying to determine why the
suffix ‘ide’ was added to the name Noah to create the adjective
‘Noahide.’ I need the answer to this query since I will be
moderating a class where the ‘Noahide laws’ will be discussed,
and I am sure someone will ask me why a suffix used in chemistry
has been used to construct ‘Noahide.’ I have checked ‘A
Dictionary of Prefixes, Suffixes, and Combining Forms From
Webster’s Third New International Dictionary.’ It shows that the
only use of the suffix ‘-ide’ is in chemistry, as in ‘oxide’….
Although the Oxford English Dictionary has ‘Noachide,’ along
with ‘Noachian’ and ‘Noachic,’ it has no explanation for the
suffix.” Since nobody, I least of all, wants Mortman to be
embarrassed in front of his class, I am rushing this answer into
print. First, however, let me explain the term “Noahide laws”
for those who are not familiar with it. Known in Hebrew, from
which it derives, as sheva mitzvot b’nei Noah, “the seven
commandments of the sons of Noah,” this