A suffix denoting that which does a thing; an act or process; the result of an act or process; state or condition; as, aliment, that which nourishes, ornament, increment; fragment, piece broken, segment; abridgment, act of abridging, imprisonment, movement, adjournment; amazement, state of being amazed, astonishment
[ m&nt; in verbs derived ] (noun suffix.) Middle English, from Old French, from Latin -mentum; akin to Latin -men, suffix denoting concrete result, Greek -mat-, -ma.