1. -ous a suffix forming adjectives that have the general sense “possessing, full of” a givenquality (covetous; glorious; nervous; wondrous); -ous and its variant -ious have often been used to Anglicize Latin adjectives with terminations that cannot be directly adapted into English (atrocious; contiguous; garrulous; obvious; stupendous). As an adjective-forming suffix of neutral value, it regularly Anglicizes Greek and Latin adjectives derived without suffix from nouns and verbs; many such formations are productive combining forms in English, sometimes with a corresponding nominal combining form that has no suffix; compare -fer , -ferous ; -phore , -phorous .
2. -ous a suffix forming adjectival correspondents to the names of chemical elements; specialized, in opposition to like adjectives ending in -ic , to mean the lower of two possible valences (stannous chloride, SnCl
Etymology: (ME < AF, OF < L -ōsus; a doublet of -ose1)
Definitions of -ous 
