-ment
(Latin: a suffix; result of, means of, act of; place of action)
The suffix -meant is a final word element derived through Middle English and French from the Latin suffix -ment(um), originally used to form agent and action nouns from verbs, now used to form nouns and denominative verbs in several related senses:
- "An action, process, or skill" denoted by the combining root: rearmament, tournament, management.
- "A result, object, or agent of an action" named by the joining root: entombment, enthrallment, agreement.
- "The means or instrument of an action": implement, medicament, reinforcement.
- "The place of an action" named by the first root: battlement, ambushment, settlement.
- "A state or condition" specified by the first root: bewilderment, predicament, bereavement.
The verb combinations show no change in basic form: cement, compliment, lament.
Principal parts: -menting, -mented, -mented.
Related forms: -mentum (singular); -menta, -menti, -ments (plurals).
employment
enactment
1. The passing of a law by a legislative body.
2. A legal document codifying the result of deliberations of a committee or society or legislative body.
3. Acting the part of a character on stage; dramatically representing the character by speech and action and gestures.
encampment
enchantment
1. Something that delights or captivates.
2. The act of producing certain wonderful effects by the invocation or aid of demons, or the agency of certain supposed spirits; the use of magic arts, spells or charms; incantation.
3. A reference to an irresistible influence or an overpowering influence of delight.
4. Etymology: from about 1297, from Old French enchantement, from enchanter, "bewitch, charm"; from Latin incantare, literally, "to chant (a magic spell) upon"; from in-, "upon, into" + cantare, "to sing".
encouragement
endorsement
endowment
1. An amount of income, or property, that has been provided to a person or institution, especially an educational institution.
2. Funds, or property, donated to an institution, individual, or group as a source of income.
3. Having received a natural ability or quality; such as, an attribute of mind or body; a gift of nature: "A sharp mind was just one of her many endowments."
enforcement
entertainment
establishment
evincement
The act of evincing or proving, or the state of being evinced or displayed clearly.
evolvement
excitement
1. The state of being emotionally aroused and worked up.
2. The feeling or condition of lively enjoyment or pleasant anticipation: "She was finding it difficult to control her excitement about the trip."
3. The act or process of stimulating something.
4. Something that engages people's attention or emotions in a lively and compelling way.
experiment
filament
1. A very fine thread or threadlike structure; a fiber or fibril; such as, filaments of gold.
2. A single fibril of natural or synthetic textile fiber, of indefinite length, sometimes several miles long.
3. A long slender cell or series of attached cells; such as, in some algae and fungi.
4. In botany, the stalklike portion of a stamen, supporting the anther.
5. In a light bulb or other incandescent lamp; the threadlike conductor, often of tungsten, in the bulb that is heated to incandescence by the passage of current.
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