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notion

/ˈnoʊʃən/noun

notion is spelled N-O-T-I-O-N: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,407th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, notion means “Mental apprehension of whatever may be known, thought, or imagined; idea, concept” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of notion is notions.

How many letters and syllables are in notion?

Letters6: N-O-T-I-O-N
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing15 times per million words; the 5,407th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is notion?

Notion appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,407th 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 notion?

  • UK /ˈnəʊʃən/
  • US /ˈnoʊʃən/

Notion has 2 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: En-us-notion.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with notion?

8 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as notion 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 notion

  • notions plural

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

What does notion mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    Mental apprehension of whatever may be known, thought, or imagined; idea, concept.

  2. 2

    A sentiment; an opinion.

    December 2, 1832, John Henry Newman, Wilfulness, the Sin of Saul A perverse will easily collects together a system of notions to justify itself in its obliquity.

  3. 3

    obsoleteSense; mind.

  4. 4

    colloquialAn invention; an ingenious device; a knickknack.

    Yankee notions

  5. 5

    Any small article used in sewing and haberdashery, either for attachment to garments or as a tool, such as a button, zipper, or thimble.

  6. 6

    colloquialInclination; intention; predisposition; disposition.

    I have a notion to do it.

  7. 7

    IrelandcolloquialPretentiousness or overambition.

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

Notion in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchnotion (mental apprehension of whatever may be known or…)
GermanAhnung, Ansicht, Auffassung, Begriff, Denkbild, Gedanke (mental apprehension of whatever may be known or…)
Portuguesenoção, idéia (mental apprehension of whatever may be known or…), opinião (sentiment; an opinion), intenção (inclination; intention; disposition)
Spanishnoción (mental apprehension of whatever may be known or…), ganas, intención (inclination; intention; disposition)

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 notion come from?

From Latin nōtiō (“a becoming acquainted, a taking cognizance, an examination, an investigation, a conception, idea, notion”), from nōscō (“to know”). Compare French notion. See know.

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

What to look up after notion