[1840–50; ‹ Gk áchol(os) lacking bile (a-a-6 + chol-chol- + -os adj. suffix) + -ia]This word is first recorded in the period 1840–50. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: colloid, creationism, pylon, set piece, warmup-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)