Bonum
/ˈboʊ.nəm/noun
A good thing or good principle, especially in philosophical or theological writing.
Did you know?In the phrase *summum bonum*, philosophers and theologians named “the highest good” as the ultimate purpose of human life, sometimes identifying it with virtue, happiness, or God.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European (reconstructed)
PIE
*dwénos
“A proposed ancestral form meaning “good”; the deeper etymology of Latin *bonus* remains debated.”
Old Latin, before 1st century BCE
Old Latin
duenos
“An early form associated with “good” or “favorable.””
Classical Latin
Latin
bonus
“Good, kind, favorable, or morally worthy.”
Classical Latin
Latin
bonum
“The neuter form of *bonus*, used substantively to mean “a good thing” or “the good.””
Late Antiquity and Medieval period
Latin
summum bonum
““The highest good,” a major ethical and theological concept.”
19th century
English
bonum
“A philosophical or theological term for a good, benefit, or ultimate good.”