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-ium

  1. a suffix found on nouns borrowed from Latin, especially derivatives of verbs ( odium; tedium; colloquium; delirium ), deverbal compounds with the initial element denoting the object of the verb ( nasturtium ), other types of compounds ( equilibrium; millennium ), and derivatives of personal nouns, often denoting the associated status or office ( collegium; consortium; magisterium ); -ium also occurs in scientific coinages on a Latin model, as in names of metallic elements ( barium; titanium ) and as a Latinization of Gk -ion ( pericardium ).


-ium

suffix forming nouns

  1. indicating a metallic element

    platinum

    barium

  2. (in chemistry) indicating groups forming positive ions

    hydroxonium ion

    ammonium chloride

  3. indicating a biological structure

    syncytium

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of -ium1

< New Latin, Latin, neuter suffix
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Word History and Origins

Origin of -ium1

New Latin, from Latin, from Greek -ion, diminutive suffix
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Example Sentences

The preterite of the German dialect is formed by adding ium to the imperative, which is always the root of the verb.

Quinquenniad, kwin-kwen′i-ad, n. a period of five years—also Quinquenn′ium.

Satyrī′n, the argus butterflies; Satyr′ium, a genus of small flowered orchids; Sat′yrus, the genus of orangs—simia.

Triv′ialness; Triv′ium, in medieval schools the name given to the first three liberal arts—viz.

Exuvia -iae -ium: the cast skin of a larval insect: in Diaspinae the larval skin when cast and incorporated in the scale.

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IulusIUS