-ium

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).

Origin of -ium

< New Latin, Latin, neuter suffix

Words nearby -ium

-itious, -itis, -itive, -itol, -ity, -ium, -ive, -ivus, -ization, -ize, -ji

British Dictionary definitions for -ium

-ium

sometimes -um

suffix forming nouns

indicating a metallic element platinum; barium
(in chemistry) indicating groups forming positive ions ammonium chloride; hydroxonium ion
indicating a biological structure syncytium

Word Origin for -ium

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

Medical definitions for -ium

-ium

suff.

Chemical element or group:californium.