# excitation

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˌɛksaɪˈteɪʃən/ · frequency rank #28,199

## Definitions
1. The act of exciting or putting in motion; the act of rousing up or awakening.
2. The act of producing excitement (stimulation); also, the excitement produced.
3. The activity produced in an organ, tissue, or part, such as a nerve cell, as a result of stimulation.
4. A transition of a nucleus, atom or molecule to an excited state by the absorption of a quantum of energy; the opposite of relaxation.

## Etymology
From Middle English excitacion, excitacioun, from Old French excitation, from Latin excitātiō. Morphologically excite + -ation.

## Easily confused with
- **expiration** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/excitation-vs-expiration)
- **excavation** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/excavation-vs-excitation)

## Common misspellings (15)
`ecxitation`, `exccitation`, `exciattion`, `excitaiton`, `excitasion`, `excitatino`, `excitationn`, `excitatoin`, `excitattion`, `excittaion`, `excittation`, `exctiation`, `exictation`, `exxcitation`, `xecitation`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-09-03.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/excitation