[*] 239. Nouns denoting acts, or means and results of acts, are formed from roots or verb-stems by the use of the suffixes— -men, N.; -mentum, N.; -mōnium, N.; -mōnia, F.
ag-men, line of march, band; | AG, root of agere, to lead. |
regi-men, rule; regi-mentum, rule; | regi- (rege-), stem of regere, to direct. |
certā-men, contest, battle; | certā-, stem of certāre, to contend. |
colu-men, pillar; mō-men, movement; | nō-men, name; flū-men, stream. |
testi-mōnium, testimony; | testārī, to witness. |
queri-mōnia, complaint; | querī, to complain. |
[*] Note.--Of these endings, -men is primary (cf. § 234. 2.14); -mentum is a compound of men- and to-, and appears for the most part later in the language than -men: as, mōmen, movement (Lucr.); mōmentum (later). So elementum is a development from L-M-N-a, l-m-n's (letters of the alphabet), changed to elementa along with other nouns in -men. -mōnium and -mōnia were originally compound secondary suffixes formed from mōn- (a by-form of men-), which was early associated with mo-. Thus almus
(stem almo-), fostering; Almōn, a river near Rome; alimōnia, support. But the last was formed directly from alō when -mōnia had become established as a supposed primary suffix.