[1785–95; cyan-1 + -ite1]This word is first recorded in the period 1785–95. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: commando, initiative, logrolling, plateau, terrorist-ite is a suffix of nouns denoting esp. persons associated with a place, tribe, leader,doctrine, system, etc. (Campbellite; Israelite; laborite); minerals and fossils (ammonite; anthracite); explosives (cordite; dynamite); chemical compounds, esp. salts of acids whose names end in -ous (phosphite; sulfite); pharmaceutical and commercial products (vulcanite); a member or component of a part of the body (somite)