Digestment

/dɪˈdʒɛstmənt/ noun

Definition

The act or process of digesting; digestion (archaic or rare).

Etymology

From 'digest' plus the noun suffix '-ment'. This suffix, borrowed from French and Latin, creates nouns from verbs describing the action or result of the verb. This word is now largely obsolete, replaced by 'digestion'.

Kelly Says

Old English preferred '-ment' nouns (like 'movement,' 'payment'), but we gradually shifted to '-tion' nouns in scientific contexts, which is why 'digestion' won out over 'digestment'.

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