-ume

Forms

-ume m (plural -umi)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin -ūmen.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} In Latin the suffix had only a collective sense, in words such as legūmen, acūmen and albūmen, which gave Italian legume, acume and albume.^[2][3] Treccani says it first expressed an abstract verbal idea.^[5] Wiktionary calls it an extended form of -men, and Zingarelli traces it to the Indo-European suffix Proto-Indo-European *-men-.^[1][6] The pejorative sense is Italian: the modern suffix makes nouns that are collective and disparaging at once.^[2][3]

Meanings

Suffix

1. Forms collective nouns with a pejorative sense, mostly from adjectives that already name a bad quality or condition: sudiciume, luridume, vecchiume, fradiciume, putridume.^{[2][3][4][6][7]}
2. Less often formed from nouns or verbs: canagliume, forestierume, appiccicume.^[7]
3. In a few words it has no pejorative sense: dolciume, legume, albume.^[7][5]

Word family

• sudiciume
• luridume
• vecchiume
• fradiciume
• putridume
• dolciume
• salume

Related words

• Latin -umen

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
6. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c De Mauro, Tullio, Il Nuovo De Mauro, online ed., dizionario.internazionale.it