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DictionaryRoot: -atio
Latin

-atio

an action, process, or result

Forms

  • -atio
  • -ation- — Latin stem used outside the basic noun form.
  • -ation — Borrowed into English through French and Latin.

Origin

Latin -a-, associated with one class of verbs, plus the action-noun suffix -tio.

Note

The same formation can name either doing something or what the action produces.

53 / 398
Three small successive bowls show smooth milk, forming curds, then separated curds and whey; no labels.
noun

coagulation

koh-ag-yuh-LAY-shun/kəʊˌæɡjuˈleɪʃn/

The process of a liquid thickening into a partly solid mass.

Etymology
coagulLatincause to curdle
+ationLatinan action, process, or result

The curdling root comes from a Latin verb also meaning 'collect': fluid matter comes together into a thicker mass. The action-noun ending names that change as a process.

Full entry

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