-ium

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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).

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Origin of -ium

<New Latin, Latin, neuter suffix

Words nearby -ium

IU, IUCN Red List, IUD, IUI, Iulus, -ium, IUS, IV, iva, ivan, Ivanhoe

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use -ium in a sentence

The preterite of the German dialect is formed by adding ium to the imperative, which is always the root of the verb.
Carmen|Prosper Merimee
Quinquenniad, kwin-kwen′i-ad, n. a period of five years—also Quinquenn′ium.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R)|Various
Satyrī′n, the argus butterflies; Satyr′ium, a genus of small flowered orchids; Sat′yrus, the genus of orangs—simia.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)|Various
Triv′ialness; Triv′ium, in medieval schools the name given to the first three liberal arts—viz.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)|Various

Exuvia -iae -ium: the cast skin of a larval insect: in Diaspinae the larval skin when cast and incorporated in the scale.
Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology|John. B. Smith

British Dictionary definitions for -ium

-ium

sometimes -um

suffix forming nouns

indicating a metallic elementplatinum; barium

(in chemistry) indicating groups forming positive ionsammonium chloride; hydroxonium ion

indicating a biological structuresyncytium

Word Origin for -ium

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

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