-ment


  1. a suffix of nouns, often concrete, denoting an action or resulting state (abridgment; refreshment), a product (fragment), or means (ornament).

Origin of -ment

1
<French <Latin -mentum, suffix forming nouns, usually from verbs

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use -ment in a sentence

  • If it weren't for them blamed gov'-ment inspectors, I'd sure put a spoke in his wheel.

    The Shepherd of the Hills | Harold Bell Wright
  • He'd sure have him persecuted fer 'sultin' a gov'ment servant when th' inspector come around.

    The Shepherd of the Hills | Harold Bell Wright
  • The 'Merrikin gov'ment will never give him up, ven vunce they find as he's got money to spend, Sammy.

    The Pickwick Papers | Charles Dickens
  • Nous avons du sang franais dans nos artres, et le sang franais ne ment pas!

    The Wasted Generation | Owen Johnson
  • The earliest settle ment was a town covering at least five acres, possibly nearly ten.

British Dictionary definitions for -ment

-ment

suffix forming nouns
  1. indicating state, condition, or quality: enjoyment

  2. indicating the result or product of an action: embankment

  1. indicating process or action: management

Origin of -ment

1
from French, from Latin -mentum

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