Cemented

How to spell cemented

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce cemented

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does cemented mean?

1. verbEstablished or settled something so firmly that it became permanent or unshakeable.
2. verbFixed something in place using cement or a similar bonding paste.

Cemented in a sentence

• The trade agreement cemented a lasting partnership between the two firms.

• The builders cemented the heavy paving slabs into a level base.

• That single performance cemented her reputation as a serious actor.

• Each fence post was cemented firmly into the ground before the panels went up.

Where does cemented come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the past tense of the verb 'cement', which traces back to the Latin word caementum, meaning rough stone or chippings hewn straight from a quarry. That noun came from caedere, a Latin verb meaning 'to cut' or 'to hew', so the original idea was the cut rubble that builders mixed into mortar. The sense slid from the stone fragments themselves to the binding paste made with them, and English borrowed the word through Old French ciment in the 1300s. By the 1500s the verb had taken on its familiar figurative life, describing anything bonded as firmly as masonry, such as a friendship or an alliance. A useful spelling reminder is that the soft opening 'c' sounds like an 's', yet the word keeps the Latin 'c' throughout, with no double letters to trip over.

How the word is built

• cement (root, from Latin caementum: rough quarried stone)
• -ed (past tense/participle suffix)