ont-

¹

1. variant of onto- before a vowel.

-ont

²

1. a combining form meaning “being,” used in the formation of compound words:

   diplont,

   haplont.

Ont.

³

abbreviation for

1. Ontario.

Ont.

abbreviation for

1. Ontario

Word History and Origins

Origin of ont-¹

< Greek -ont stem of ṓn “being,” present participle of eînai “to be” ( onto- ( def ) )

Example Sentences

Proponents of involuntary treatments, like Patrick Brown, the mayor of Brampton, Ont., claim “the old approach isn’t working.”

From Salon

Lavallee said a CC-130H Hercules aircraft travelled to the site from Calgary, Alberta and a CC-130J Hercules was sent from Trenton, Ont.

From Seattle Times

The jury also convicted Nathaniel Veltman, 22, guilty of one count of attempted murder for injuring a fifth family member in the incident in London, Ont.

From Seattle Times

Two days after Amazon Prime Day, a group of over 60 Palmdale Amazon contract drivers, backed by Teamsters and community members, picketed outside Amazon’s ONT 5 warehouse, blocking trucks from entering or leaving the San Bernardino facility.

From Los Angeles Times

Ontario International in San Bernardino County — forgot about that one, didn’t you? — is century-aged too, and ONT earned its international status thanks to flights to and from Taipei.

From Los Angeles Times

Words That Use -Ont

What does -ont mean?

The combining form -ont is used like a suffix to mean “being.” It is very occasionally used in scientific terms, especially in biology.

The form -ont comes from Greek ṓn, meaning “being.” The Latin equivalents are ēns, ent- and essent- “being,” which are the sources of entity and essence.

When used as a prefix at the beginning of a word, -ont becomes ont- or onto-, as in ontogeny or ontic. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles for ont- and onto-.

Examples of -ont

One example of a scientific term that features the form -ont is diplont, the diploid individual in a life cycle that has a diploid and a haploid phase. In other words, it’s an organism with two sets of chromosomes.

The form dipl- means “double” or “in pairs.” Because -ont means “being,” diplont literally translates to “double being.”

What are some words that use the combining form -ont?

• haplont
• schizont
• symbiont

What are some other forms that -ont may be commonly confused with?

• -ant
• -biont
• -ent
• -odont

Not every word that ends with the exact letters -ont, such as storefront or cryodont, is necessarily using the combining form -ont to denote “being.” Learn why -odont means “having teeth” at our entry for this form.

Break it down!

A diplont is an organism that has two sets of chromosomes. Keeping in mind that hapl- means “single,” what is a haplont?