saltation
/sælˈteɪ.ʃən/noun
saltation is a noun meaning “A leap, jump or dance” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled S-A-L-T-A-T-I-O-N and has 3 syllables, and it appears about once in every 45 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of saltation is saltations.
What does saltation mean?
noun
- 1
A leap, jump or dance.
- 2
The act of jumping, or hopping, using all legs simultaneously (although the contribution to motion is typically made chiefly by the hind legs).
- 3
Beating or palpitation.
the saltation of the great artery
- 4
A sudden change from one generation to the next; a mutation.
- 5
Any abrupt transition.
- 6
The transport of loose particles by a fluid (such as wind or flowing water).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce saltation?
- UK /sælˈteɪ.ʃən/
- US /sælˈteɪ.ʃən/
- US /sɔlˈ-/
Saltation has 3 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of saltation
- saltations plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is saltation?
Saltation appears about once in every 45 million words in written English, the 206,808th 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).
Where does saltation come from?
From Latin saltus (“to leap”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).