-ment

See also: ment

English

Alternative forms

⠰⠞

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥

Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥tom

Proto-Italic *-mentom

Latin -mentum

Old French -mentbor.

Middle English -ment

English -ment

From Middle English -ment, from Old French -ment, from Latin -mentum.

Pronunciation

Audio (Southern England): (file)

Suffix

-ment (noun-forming suffix, countable and uncountable, plural -ments)

Attached to a verb to form a noun meaning the action denoted by the verb or its result.

Usage notes

Generally attached to stem without changes, except when the stem ends in -dge, where the -e is sometimes dropped, as in abridgment, acknowledgment, judgment, and lodgment, with the forms without -e being preferred in American English. Of these, judgment is the most significant, and usage varies globally; see Judgment: Spelling for discussion.

Synonyms

-tion
-ing

Derived terms

English terms suffixed with -ment

Translations

Albanian: -më m, -im m
Armenian: -ումն (-umn), -ություն (-utʻyun)
Asturian: -mientu m
Catalan: -ment (ca) m
Dutch: -ing (nl) f
Finnish: -minen (fi), -us (fi)
French: -ment (fr) m, -age (fr) m
Middle French: -ment m

Old French: -ment m
Galician: -mento (gl) m
German: -ung (de) f
Greek: -μα (el) n (-ma), -ιμο (el) n (-imo)
Ancient Greek: -μα n (-ma)
Hindi: -करण m (-karaṇ)
Interlingua: -mento
Italian: -mento m
Japanese: の (ja) (no)
Jeju: -임 (-im)
Khmer: ការ (km) (kaa)
Korean: -음 (-eum), -기 (-gi)
Middle Korean: 기〮 (-ki)
Latin: -mentum n
Middle English: -ment
Norwegian:
Bokmål: -ment
Occitan: -ment (oc) m
Old English: -ing f
Pashto: ـتیا (-tiyâ)
Persian: ـش (-eš)
Polish: -stwo (pl) n, -anie (pl) n, -enie (pl) n, -ęcie (pl) n
Romanian: -mânt n
Russian: -тельство n (-telʹstvo)
Scots: -ment
Spanish: -miento (es) m, -mento (es) m
Swedish: -mang (sv) n, -ment (sv) n
Tamil: -ச்சி (-cci)
Thai: การ (th) (gaan), ความ (th) (kwaam)
Ukrainian: -ення n (-ennja), -ання n (-annja)
Urdu: ـش (-iś)
Walloon: -mint (wa) m
Welsh: -ant m, -dra m, -id m, -ni m, -deb m, -i m, -wch m, -aint m, -ter m, -der (cy) m, -tid m, -fel m, -tod m, -yd m, -ioni m, -ineb (cy) m, -edd m
Yiddish: ־ונג (yi) f (-ung)

Anagrams

T-men

Aragonese

Etymology

Inherited from Latin mente.

Suffix

-ment

Attaches to an adjective in the feminine singular to form the corresponding adverb.
‎rapida (“rapid”) + ‎-ment → ‎rapidament (“rapidly”)

Usage notes

The resulting adverb is an oxytone where the corresponding adjective is a paroxytone, as in [raˈpiðə] → [ˌrapiðəˈmen].

Catalan

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈmen]
IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [ˈment]

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin mente.

Suffix

-ment

Attaches to an adjective in the feminine singular to form the corresponding adverb.
‎ràpida (“rapid”) + ‎-ment → ‎ràpidament (“rapidly”)

Usage notes

The resulting adverb has secondary stress where the corresponding adjective has primary stress, as in [ˈrapiðə] → [ˌrapiðəˈmen].

Derived terms

Catalan terms suffixed with -ment (adverbial)

Etymology 2

Inherited from Latin -mentum.

Suffix

-ment m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ments)

Forms nouns from verbs, usually indicating a resulting action or state.
‎patir (“to suffer”) + ‎-ment → ‎patiment (“suffering”)

Derived terms

Catalan terms suffixed with -ment (nominal)

Franco-Provençal

Etymology 1

From Latin mente.

Suffix

-ment (ORB, broad)

Attaches to an adjective in the feminine singular to form the corresponding adverb.
‎ôtra (“other”) + ‎-ment → ‎ôtrament (“otherwise”)

Derived terms

Franco-Provençal terms suffixed with -ment (adverbial)

entiérement

ôtrament

solament

Etymology 2

From Latin -mentum.

Suffix

-ment m (plural -ments) (ORB, broad)

Forms nouns from verbs, usually indicating a resulting action or state.

Derived terms

Category Franco-Provençal terms suffixed with -ment (nominal) not found

French

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mɑ̃/
Audio (France (Brétigny-sur-Orge)): (file)

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *men-

Proto-Indo-European *-tis

Proto-Indo-European *méntis

Proto-Italic *mentis

Latin mēns

Latin mente

Old French -ment

Middle French -ment

French -ment

Inherited from Middle French -ment, from Old French -ment, from Latin mente.

Suffix

-ment (adverb-forming suffix)

Attaches to an adjective in the feminine singular to form the corresponding adverb.
‎franche + ‎-ment → ‎franchement

Usage notes

With adjectives ending in -ant(e), -ent(e), the suffix combines with the ending to produce -amment, -emment (both pronounced /a.mɑ̃/).

Derived terms

French terms suffixed with -ment (adverbial)

abracadabrantesquement

anthropocentriquement

anthropologiquement

anticipativement

anticonstitutionnellement

Etymology 2

Inherited from Middle French -ment, from Old French -ment, from Latin -mentum.

Suffix

-ment m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ments)

forms nouns from verbs, usually indicating a resulting action or state
‎parer + ‎-ment → ‎parement

‎abandonner + ‎-ment → ‎abandonnement

‎manier + ‎-ment → ‎maniement

Derived terms

French terms suffixed with -ment (nominal)

Descendants

→ Norwegian Bokmål: -ment
→ Swedish: -mang

Maltese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Sicilian -mentibor.

Proto-Indo-European *men-

Proto-Indo-European *-tis

Proto-Indo-European *méntis

Proto-Italic *mentis

Latin mente

Italian -mentebor.

Maltese -ment

Borrowed from Sicilian -menti and Italian -mente, both from Latin mente.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mɛnt/

Suffix

-ment

Forms adverbs from adjectives; -ly

Usage notes

Generally restricted to adjectives of Romance origin, but occasional exceptions such as ħerqanament (“eagerly”) are attestable.

Derived terms

Maltese terms suffixed with -ment

Middle English

Etymology

From Old French -ment, from Latin -mentum.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mɛnt/

Suffix

-ment

Forms nouns from verbs, usually indicating a resulting action or state.

Derived terms

Descendants

English: -ment
Scots: -ment

References

“-ment, suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-11-2.

Middle French

Pronunciation

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *men-

Proto-Indo-European *-tis

Proto-Indo-European *méntis

Proto-Italic *mentis

Latin mēns

Latin mente

Old French -ment

Middle French -ment

Inherited from Old French -ment, from Latin mente, from mēns, from Proto-Italic *mentis, from Proto-Indo-European *méntis, from *men- + *-tis.

Suffix

-ment

Attaches to an adjective in the feminine singular to form the corresponding adverb.

Derived terms

Descendants

French: -ment

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥

Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥tom

Proto-Italic *-mentom

Latin -mentum

Old French -ment

Middle French -ment

Inherited from Old French -ment, from Latin -mentum, from Proto-Italic *-mentom, from Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥tom, from *-mn̥.

Suffix

-ment m

Forms nouns from verbs, usually indicating a resulting action or state.

Derived terms

Descendants

French: -ment
- → Norwegian Bokmål: -ment
- → Swedish: -mang

Norman

Etymology 1

From Old French -ment, from Latin mente.

Suffix

-ment

Attaches to an adjective in the feminine singular to form the corresponding adverb.

Derived terms

Norman terms suffixed with -ment (adverbial)

Etymology 2

From Old French -ment, from Latin -mentum.

Suffix

-ment

Forms nouns from verbs, usually indicating a resulting action or state.

Derived terms

Norman terms suffixed with -ment (nominal)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Latin -mentum.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mɛnt/
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -ɛnt
Hyphenation: -ment

Suffix

-ment (definite singular neuter -mentet, definite singular masculine -menten, indefinite plural -ment or -menter, definite plural -mentene or -menta)

Used to form nouns from verbal stems, often denoting an action, means or state; -ment
dokument, eksperiment, fundament, instrument, medikament, pigment ― document, experiment, foundation, instrument, drug, pigment

Etymology 2

From French -ment, from Latin -mentum.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /maŋ/
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -aŋ
Hyphenation: -ment

Suffix

-ment (definite singular neuter -mentet, definite singular masculine -menten, indefinite plural -ment or -menter, definite plural -mentene or -menta)

Used to form nouns often denoting action, means or state; -ment
abonnement, arrangement, bombardement, resonnement, signalement ― subscription, event, bombardment, reasoning, signaling