Herbert Weir Smyth, A Greek Grammar for Colleges

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[*] 838. Some suffixes have a special significance; of these the most important are given in 839-856. But suffixes commonly used with a special function (such as to denote agency, action, instrument, etc.) are not restricted to this function. Only a few have one function, as τερο to denote comparison.

a. The instrument may be viewed as the agent, as in ῥαι-σ-τήρ hammer, lit. smasher, from ῥαί-ω smash. τρο (863. 16) may express the agent, instrument, or place. Suffixes used to denote actions or abstract ideas often make concrete words, as τροφ-ή nurture and nourishment, ἀγγελ-ία_ message (cp. Eng. dwelling, clothing). πορθμεῖον means ferry, ferry-boat, ferryman's fee. Words originally denoting an agent have lost that meaning, as πα-τήρ father (orig. protector), and in many cases the original force is changed.