-tion
/-ʃən/
"tion" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“-tion” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a suffix. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Used to form nouns meaning "the action of (a verb)" or "the result of (a verb)". Words ending in this suffix are almost always derived from a similar Latin word; a few (e.g. gumption) are not deriv...
Corpus desk
Index EN-tion · -tion · English
-tion · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "-" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | -tion |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Suffix |
| IPA | /-ʃən/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “-tion” in English
Rare enough to double-check
-tion is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as asuffix, transcribed /-ʃən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Used to form nouns meaning "the action of (a verb)" or "the result of (a verb)". Words ending in this suffix are almost always derived from a similar Latin word; a few (e.g. gumption) are not deriv...".
No generated misspelling entries exist for -tion in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From rebracketed Middle English -cioun, rebracketed borrowing of Old French -tion, -cion, borrowed from the stem of Latin -tiō. The Middle English -cioun became -tion in Modern English under the influence of the Middle French -tion and original Latin spelli… The correct English form is -tion, spelled --T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1Used to form nouns meaning "the action of (a verb)" or "the result of (a verb)". Words ending in this suffix are almost always derived from a similar Latin word; a few (e.g. gumption) are not derived from Latin and are unrelated to any verb. More often, -ation is used.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how -tion appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
ignore + -tion → ignortion
scrimp + -tion → scrimption
Etymology
From rebracketed Middle English -cioun, rebracketed borrowing of Old French -tion, -cion, borrowed from the stem of Latin -tiō. The Middle English -cioun became -tion in Modern English under the influence of the Middle French -tion and original Latin spellings. Always -ate or t-final/te-final base + -ion.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.