[*] 241. Abstract Nouns, mostly from adjective-stems, rarely from noun-stems, are formed by means of the secondary feminine suffixes— -ia (-iēs), -tia (-tiēs), -tās, -tūs, -tūdō
| audāc-ia, boldness; | audāx, bold. |
| pauper-iēs, poverty; | pauper, poor. |
| trīsti-tia, sadness; | trīstis, sad. |
| sēgni-tiēs, laziness; | sēgnis, lazy. |
| boni-tās, goodness; | bonus, good. |
| senec-tūs, age; | senex, old. |
| māgni-tūdō, greatness; | māgnus, great. |
- In stems ending in o- or ā- the stem-vowel is lost before -ia (as superb-ia ) and appears as i before -tās, -tūs, -tia (as in boni-tās , above).
- Consonant stems often insert i before -tās: as, loquāx (stem loquāc-),loquāci-tās; buthones-tās,mâies-tās (as if from old adjectives in -es),ūber-tās, volup-tās . o after i is changed toe: as, pius (stem pio-),pie-tās; socius , socie-tās.
- cupī-dō, desire, from cupere, to desire (as if from stem cupī-).
- dulcē-dō, sweetness (cf. dulcis, sweet), as if from a stem dulcē-, cf. dulcē-scō.
- lumbā-gō, lumbago (cf. lumbus, loin), as if from †lumbō, -āre.
[*] Note.--Of these, -ia is inherited as secondary (cf. § 234. 2.11). -tia is formed by adding -ia to stems with a t-suffix: as, mīlitia, from mīles (stem mīlit-); molestia from molestus; clēmentia from clēmēns; whence by analogy, mali-tia , avāri-tia . -tās is inherited, but its component parts, tā- + ti-, are found as suffixes in the same sense: as, senecta from senex; sēmen-tis from sēmen. -tūs is tū- + ti-, cf. servitū-dō . -dō and -gō appear only with long vowels, as from verb-stems, by a false analogy; but -dō is do- + ōn-: as, cupidus , cupīdō; gravidus, gravēdō (cf. gravē-scō ); albidus , albēdō (cf. albēscō ); formidus, hot, formīdō (cf. formīdulōsus ), (hot flash?) fear; -gō is possibly co- + ōn-; cf. vorāx , vorāgō , but cf. Cethēgus . -tūdō is compounded of -dō with tu-stems, which acquire a long vowel from association with verb-stems in u- (cf. volūmen , from volvō ): as, cōnsuētū-dō , valētū-dō , habitū-dō; whence servitūdō (cf. servitūs , tūtis ).
[*] b. Neuter Abstracts, which easily pass into concretes denoting offices and groups, are formed from noun-stems and perhaps from verb-stems by means of the suffixes— -ium, -tium| hospit-ium, hospitality, an inn; 1 | hospes (gen. hospit-is ), a guest. |
| collēg-ium, colleagueship, a college; | collēga, a colleague. |
| auspic-ium, soothsaying, an omen; | auspex (gen. auspic-is ), a soothsayer. |
| gaud-ium, joy; | gaudēre, to rejoice. |
| effug-ium, escape; | effugere, to escape. |
| benefic-ium, a kindness; | benefacere, to benefit; cf. beneficus . |
| dēsīder-ium, longing; | dēsīderāre, to miss, from †dē-sīdēs, out |
| of place, of missing soldiers. | |
| adverb-ium, adverb; | ad verbum , [added] to a verb. |
| interlūn-ium, time of new moon; | inter lūnās, between moons. |
| rēgifug-ium, flight of the kings; | rēgis fuga, flight of a king. |
| servi-tium, slavery, the slave class; | servus, a slave. |
[*] Note.-- -ium is the neuter of the adjective suffix -ius. It is an inherited primary suffix, but is used with great freedom as secondary. -tium is formed like -tia, by adding -ium to stems with t: as, exit-ium, equit-ium (cf. exitus, equitēs); so, by analogy, calvitium , servitium (from calvus, servus).
[*] c. Less commonly, abstract nouns (which usually become concrete) are formed from noun-stems (confused with verb-stems) by means of the suffixes— -nia, F.; -nium, -lium, -cinium, N.| pecū-nia, money (chattels); | pecū, cattle. |
| contici-nium, the hush of night; | conticēscere, to become still. |
| auxi-lium, help; | augēre, to increase. |
| lātrō-cinium, robbery; | latrō, robber (cf. latrōcinor, rob, implying an adjective † latrōcinus ). |