summum bonum

UK/ˌsʌməm ˈbəʊnəm/UK/ˌsʊməm ˈbɒnəm/US/ˌsʊməm ˈbɑnəm/US/ˌsʌməm ˈboʊnəm/

noun

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

Opposite
summum malum
OriginLatin summum bonum →
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Meanings

nounsummum bonum (plural summa bona)

plural summa bona

  1. human sciencesThe greatest good; the ultimate importance; the singular end which human beings ought to pursue.

    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: […]

    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

    Antonyms: summum malum

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe greatest good; the ultimate importance; the singular end which human beings ought to pursue.

Opposite
summum malum

Origin

  1. Latinsummum bonum
  2. Latinsummum bonum
  3. Englishsummum bonum

Learned borrowing from Latin summum bonum.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

summum bonum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/summum%20bonum

MLA

“summum bonum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/summum%20bonum. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “summum bonum,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/summum%20bonum.

Source: summum bonum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.