-ation

American  

1. a combination of -ate and -ion, used to form nouns from stems in -ate1 (separation ); on this model, used independently to form nouns from stems of other origin.

   starvation.

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-ation British  

suffix

1. indicating an action, process, state, condition, or result Compare -ion -tion

   arbitration

   cogitation

   hibernation

   moderation

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Etymology

Origin of -ation

< Latin -ātiōn- (stem of -ātiō ), equivalent to -ā- stem vowel + -tiōn- -tion

Example Sentences

It doesn’t seem like one -ism or -ation is entirely to blame, like globalism or immigration, capitalism or inflation.

From Slate • Oct. 12, 2024

And so it goes for another 102 iterations of -ation, according to Uglow.

From New York Times • Aug. 24, 2018

Which -ation will come first for Pompey - administration, relegation, liquidation or salvation?

From BBC • Jan. 31, 2010

The nominalization rule takes a perfectly spry verb and embalms it into a lifeless noun by adding a suffix like -ance, -ment, -ation, or -ing.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Even they were happily preserved by their sacred books from the notion that deliverance was to be found for them, or for any man, in an abstraction or notion ending in -ation or -ality.

From Alexandria and Her Schools; four lectures delivered at the Philosophical Institution, Edinburgh by Kingsley, Charles