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PlainSpell

motion

mot·ion/ˈmoʊ.ʃən/noun, verb

motion is spelled M-O-T-I-O-N: 6 letters and 2 syllables (mot·ion). It appears 39 times per million words in written English, the 2,523rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, motion means “A change whereby something goes from one place to another; a state of progression from one place to another; a change of position with respect to time” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of motion is motions.

How many letters and syllables are in motion?

Letters6: M-O-T-I-O-N
Syllables2: mot·ion
In writing39 times per million words; the 2,523rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is motion?

Motion appears 39 times per million words in written English, the 2,523rd 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 motion?

  • UK /ˈməʊ.ʃən/
  • US /ˈmoʊ.ʃən/

Motion has 2 syllables, split mot·ion in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-motion.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-motion.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with motion?

8 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as motion from its last stressed vowel (/oʊʃən/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of motion

  • motions plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • motioning participle, present
  • motioned participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does motion mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A change whereby something goes from one place to another; a state of progression from one place to another; a change of position with respect to time.

  2. 2

    A parliamentary action to propose something. A similar procedure in any official or business meeting.

    The motion to amend is now open for discussion.

  3. 3

    obsoleteAn entertainment or show, especially a puppet show.

  4. 4

    from κίνησις (kinesis); any change. Traditionally of four types: generation and corruption, alteration, augmentation and diminution, and change of place.

    I say, it is no uneven jot, to pass from the more faint and obscure examples of Spermatical life to the more considerable effects of general Motion in Minerals, Metalls, and sundry Meteors, whose easie and rude shapes may have no need of an

  5. 5

    Movement of the mind, desires, or passions; mental act, or impulse to any action; internal activity.

  6. 6

    A formal request, oral or written, made to a judge or court of law to obtain an official court ruling or order for a legal action to be taken by, or on behalf of, the movant.

  7. 7

    A movement of the bowels; the product of such movement.

  8. 8

    Change of pitch in successive sounds, whether in the same part or in groups of parts. (Conjunct motion is that by single degrees of the scale. Contrary motion is when parts move in opposite directions. Disjunct motion is motion by skips. Oblique motion is when one part is stationary while another moves. Similar or direct motion is when parts move in the same direction.)

verb

  1. 1

    To gesture indicating a desired movement.

    He motioned for me to come closer.

  2. 2

    proscribedTo introduce a motion in parliamentary procedure.

  3. 3

    To make a proposal; to offer plans.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Motion in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchmouvement (state of progression from one place to another), motion (parliamentary proposal)
GermanBewegung (state of progression from one place to another), Antrag (parliamentary proposal)
Portuguesemovimento (state of progression from one place to another), moção (parliamentary proposal), deslocamento (change of place or position)
Spanishmovimiento (state of progression from one place to another), moción (parliamentary proposal)

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 motion come from?

Inherited from Middle English mocioun, mocion, from Anglo-Norman motion, Middle French motion, and their etymon Latin mōtiō (“movement, motion”), related to movēre, from Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- (“to move”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after motion