-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:

  1. "An action, process, or skill" denoted by the combining root: rearmament, tournament, management.
  2. "A result, object, or agent of an action" named by the joining root: entombment, enthrallment, agreement.
  3. "The means or instrument of an action": implement, medicament, reinforcement.
  4. "The place of an action" named by the first root: battlement, ambushment, settlement.
  5. "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).