a suffix found on abstract nouns borrowed from Latin, usually denoting a status, role, or function (matrimony; testimony), or a personal quality or kind of behavior (acrimony; sanctimony).
Origin of
-mony
< Latin
-mōnium (denominal),
-mōnia (usually deadjectival), presumably orig. derivatives with
-ium-ium,
-ia-ia of
-mōn-, an adj. or noun suffix, cognate with Greek
-mōn (see
hegemony); cf.
alimony
