ignition
/ɪɡˈnɪʃən/noun
ignition is spelled I-G-N-I-T-I-O-N: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 4.8 times per million words in written English, the 11,541st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, ignition means “The act of igniting” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ignition is ignitions.
How many letters and syllables are in ignition?
| Letters | 8: I-G-N-I-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.8 times per million words; the 11,541st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is ignition?
Ignition appears 4.8 times per million words in written English, the 11,541st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ignition?
- /ɪɡˈnɪʃən/
Ignition has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-ignition.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of ignition
- ignitions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ignition mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of igniting.
- 2
The initiation of combustion.
- 3
A system for activating combustion in a combustion engine.
- 4
Receptacle for a key used to start the engine in a vehicle.
Put the key in the ignition and turn in right.
- 5
The phenomenon of a thermonuclear fusion reaction becoming self-sustaining and no longer requiring external heating.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate ignition?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of ignition: ign.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ignition in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ignition , allumage |
| German | Zündung |
| Portuguese | ignição , partida |
| Spanish | ignición , encendido |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does ignition come from?
Learned borrowing from Latin ignītiō. By surface analysis, ignite + -ion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).