The suffix -ose is used in biochemistry to form the names of sugars. Numerous systems exist to name specific sugars more descriptively.

Monosaccharides, the simplest sugars, may be named according to the number of carbon atoms in each molecule of the sugar: pentose is a five-carbon monosaccharide, and hexose is a six-carbon monosaccharide. Aldehyde monosaccharides may be called aldoses; ketone monosaccharides may be called ketoses.

Larger sugars such as disaccharides and polysaccharides can be named to reflect their qualities. Lactose, a disaccharide found in milk, gets its name from the Latin word for milk combined with the sugar suffix; its name means "milk sugar". The polysaccharide that makes up plant starch is named amylose, or "starch sugar"; see amyl.

There are these theories about the origin of the -ose suffix:-

1. Extracted from glucose, an important hexose whose name came from Greek = "sweet".
2. Extracted from sucrose, whose name came from Latin sucrum = "sugar" plus the common Latin adjective-forming suffix - sus; Latin sucrosus would mean "sugary".