summum bonum

noun

sum·​mum bo·​num ˌsu̇-məm-ˈbō-nəm How to pronounce summum bonum (audio)
ˌsü-,
ˌsə-
: the supreme good from which all others are derived

Examples of summum bonum in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Or with the uncontested idea that a rising income conveys you ever closer to the summum bonum? Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2023 For champions of progress, who often cite painless dentistry as the summum bonum, the surgery of the premodern period is nothing but a vile species of Grand Guignol. Will Self, Harper’s Magazine , 28 Sep. 2022 As both President Reagan and Nikita Khrushchev understood, in a world where material well-being has replaced more traditional conceptions of the summum bonum, the battlefield is first and foremost at home. Mathis Bitton, National Review, 12 Aug. 2020

Word History

Etymology

Latin

First Known Use

1563, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of summum bonum was in 1563

Dictionary Entries Near summum bonum

Cite this Entry

“Summum bonum.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/summum%20bonum. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

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