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• visitation
  visitation

  noun

  the act of visiting.
• Visitation
  Visitation

visitation

American  

[viz-i-tey-shuhn] / ˌvɪz ɪˈteɪ ʃən /

noun

• visitations
  plural

1. the act of visiting.

2. a formal visit, as one permitted by a court's granting of visitation rights or by parents invited to a school to observe the work of students.

3. a visit for the purpose of making an official examination or inspection, as of a bishop to a diocese.

4. (usually initial capital letter) the visit of the Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth. Luke 1:36–56.

5. (initial capital letter) a church festival, held on July 2, in commemoration of this visit.

6. the administration of comfort or aid, or of affliction or punishment.

   a visitation of the plague.

7. an affliction or punishment, as from God.

8. the appearance or coming of a supernatural influence or spirit.

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visitation ¹ British  

/ ˌvɪzɪˈteɪʃən /

noun

1. an official call or visit for the purpose of inspecting or examining an institution, esp such a visit made by a bishop to his diocese

2. a visiting of punishment or reward from heaven

3. any disaster or catastrophe

   a visitation of the plague

4. an appearance or arrival of a supernatural being

5. any call or visit

6. informal an unduly prolonged social call

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Visitation ² British  

/ ˌvɪzɪˈteɪʃən /

noun

1. 1. the visit made by the Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth (Luke 1:39–56)

   2. the Church festival commemorating this, held on July 2

2. a religious order of nuns, the Order of the Visitation, founded in 1610 by St Francis of Sales and dedicated to contemplation and the cultivation of humility, gentleness, and sisterly love

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• intervisitation
  noun
• revisitation
  noun
• visitational
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• visitations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of visitation

1275–1325; < Latin vīsitātiōn- (stem of vīsitātiō ), equivalent to vīsitāt ( us ) (past participle of vīsitāre; see visit, -ate ¹) + -iōn- -ion; replacing Middle English visitacioun < Anglo-French < Latin, as above

Explanation

Use the noun visitation to describe a formal or official visit, like the city health inspector's yearly visitation to your favorite pizza place. A visitation often includes some kind of evaluation or inspection, or has some other formal aspect. Meeting with a prisoner might be described as a visitation, and the official scheduled time that divorced parents have with their children are also a kind of visitation. Another meaning of the word is "calamity," or "disaster," especially one of Biblical, plague-like proportions: "The town faced a visitation of unbearably hot temperatures for three weeks."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

visitation Visitation visitations

Since 1913, people could enter in a personal vehicle, but visitation numbers remained reasonable until 1926 when the “All Year Highway,” a segment of the 140 Highway, opened.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

We’re really focused on how we deliver a better guest experience and drive loyalty and visitation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

Nearly 60% of annual visitation occurs solely during the months of June, July and August.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

“This customer profile has demonstrated resilience across economic cycles, benefiting from brand loyalty, habitual visitation and the affordable convenience positioning of the category,” the filing said.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

There was a visitation log that the prison used for family visits, but it was not used for legal visits.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Visitation was down 7.5% last year, partly due to concerns about high prices, fees and stricter policies on traditionally free things like casino drinks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026

But it was subsequently bought by the church and became the Convent of the Visitation.

From BBC ● Jan. 23, 2025

Visitation to the park was at its highest in 2019 with about 2.3 million individuals entering the basin.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2023

Visitation for Juliana Maria Farmer, 45, will be at Tomblinson Funeral Home in Henderson from 4-8 p.m.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 17, 2023

Here’s the order of events on the day of the funeral: One: Visitation at the funeral home for an hour before the funeral service.

From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles

With an ensemble cast led by Emily Blunt and Josh O'Connor, the action-packed Universal film follows an effort to reveal a decades-long coverup of extraterrestrial visitations.

From Barron's ● Jun. 21, 2026

ICE allows online "visitations", and she often gets through to her 18-year-old sister.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2025

Arches National Park in Utah, which has experienced a boom in visitations, is employing its permit system for the third year.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 17, 2024

By turns sentimental and melancholic, Haigh’s beautiful meditation on loneliness also includes ghostly visitations.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2023

“I’m sorry, young man, but visitations are restricted to immediate family.”

From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman