-tion

English

Etymology

From Middle English -cioun, Old French -tion, -cion, borrowed from the stem of Latin suffix -tiō. The Middle English -cioun became -tion in Modern English under the influence of the Middle French -tion and original Latin spellings.

Alternative forms

• -ion (as in complexion)
• -sion
• ⠰⠝

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃən/

Suffix

-tion

1. (non-productive) Used to form nouns meaning "the action of (a verb)" or "the result of (a verb)". Words ending in this suffix are almost always derived from a similar Latin word; a few (eg gumption) are not derived from Latin and are unrelated to any verb.

   termination (terminate)

   deletion (delete)

   ignition (ignite)

   motion (move)

   resolution (resolve)

   derivation (derive)

   action (act)

   justification (justify)

   junction (join)

   connection (connect); also, especially formerly, connexion

   gumption (no related verb)

   communication (communicate)

Derived terms

► English words suffixed with -tion

Related terms

• -ation
• -isation/-ization

See also

• -ure

Translations

producing a noun meaning the action or effect of a verb

• Armenian: -ություն (-utʿyun)
• Catalan: -ció f (always forms a feminine noun)
• Dutch: -ing (nl) (Germanic), -tie (nl) (Romanic)
• Esperanto: -ado
• French: -tion (fr)
• Galician: -ción f
• German: -ung (de) (Germanic), -tion (Romanic)
• Hebrew: -ציה f (tsia)
• Italian: -zione (unless previous letter was "s", when "t" remains as is, like in "digestione", "questione", etc.)
• Japanese: -化 (-か, -ka)
• Khmer: ការ (km) (kaa)
• Latin: -tiō f
• Lithuanian: -cija f
• Malay: -si, -syen, -sen, peng--an, per--an

• Norwegian: -sjon m
• Occitan: -cion f
• Polish: -cja f
• Portuguese: -ção (pt) (unless previous letter was "s", when "t" remains as is, like in "digestão", "questão", etc.)
• Romanian: -ție, -țiune (unless previous letter was "s", when "t" remains as is, like in "digestie", "chestiune", etc.), -ciune
• Romansch: -ziun m, -schun m
• Russian: -ция (-cija)
• Slovene: -cija
• Spanish: -ción (es) (unless previous letter was "s", when "t" remains as is, like in "digestión", "cuestión", etc.)
• Swedish: -tion (sv) c, -ing (sv) c
• Yiddish: ־ונג (yi) f (-ung)

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French

Alternative forms

• -ation

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsjɔ̃/
• IPA^(key): /ˈtjɔ̃/ if previous letter is "s", so "t" remains as is , like in "digestion", "question", "combustion", etc. (always stressed in the last syllable).

Etymology

Borrowed as a learned form from Latin suffix -tione, ending of the singular ablative of those nouns ending with -tio (part of the Latin third declension). The original inherited form of the suffix, -on/-son (or -aison from -ātionem), is today less common but can be found in words such as raison, saison, chanson, venaison, oraison, garnison, etc.

Suffix

-tion

1. Used to indicate action, condition, result or effect, similar to the English suffix.

Derived terms

► French words suffixed with -tion

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German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tsjoːn/

Suffix

-tion f (genitive -tion, plural -tionen)

1. -tion

Derived terms

• Aktion
• Kommunikation

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Swedish

Suffix

-tion

1. -tion; making nouns. See also -else, -ing and -ning.

Derived terms

► Swedish words suffixed with -tion