-arium
Origin of -arium
Words nearby -arium
WORDS THAT USE -ARIUM
What does -arium mean?
The combining form -arium is a suffix meaning “location” or “receptacle.” It is occasionally used in everyday and technical terms.
The form -arium comes from Latin -ārium, meaning “thing connected with or employed in, place for.” Though unrelated, a form similar in meaning and use is -tory (also -torium), from Latin -tōrium, as in dormitory and auditorium. To learn more, check out our entries for both words.
Examples of -arium
One example of a word that uses the suffix -arium is terrarium, “a glass container, chiefly or wholly enclosed, for growing and displaying plants.”
The terr- part of the word is a shortened form of terra, meaning “earth” or “land.” As we have seen, the -arium part of the word means “receptacle.” Terrarium literally translates to “earth receptacle.”
What are some words that use the combining form -arium?
- aquarium
- oceanarium
- planetarium (using the equivalent form of -arium in Latin)
- solarium (using the equivalent form of -arium in Latin)
- vivarium (using the equivalent form of -arium in Latin)
What are some other forms that -arium may be commonly confused with?
Not every word that ends with the exact letters -arium, such as honorarium or sudarium, is necessarily using the combining form -arium to denote “receptacle.” Learn why honorarium means “a fee or payment” at our entry for the word.