summum bonum

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin summum bonum.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌsʌməm ˈbəʊnəm/, /ˌsʊməm ˈbɒnəm/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌsʊməm ˈbɑnəm/, /ˌsʌməm ˈboʊnəm/

Noun

summum bonum (plural summa bona)

1. (philosophy) The greatest good; the ultimate importance; the singular end which human beings ought to pursue.

   Antonym: summum malum

   • 1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Democritus Iunior to the Reader”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy, […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, page 33:

     In a word, euery man for hiw owne ends: our ſummum bonum is commodity, and the Goddeſſe we adore is Dea moneta, Queene Mony, to whom wee daily offer ſacrifice, which ſteeres our hearts, hands, affections, all: […]

Further reading

• Summum bonum on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Summum Bonum in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Latin

Etymology

From summus (“superlative of superus”) + bonum (“a moral good”).

Noun

summum bonum n (genitive summī bonī); second declension

1. (Medieval Latin, philosophy) The highest good; an ultimate goal of human existence.

Declension

Second-declension adjective with a second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	summum bonum	summa bona
genitive	summī bonī	summōrum bonōrum
dative	summō bonō	summīs bonīs
accusative	summum bonum	summa bona
ablative	summō bonō	summīs bonīs
vocative	summum bonum	summa bona