rhizoverbBeta
DictionaryRoot: -io
Latin

-io

an action, process, or result

Forms

  • -io
  • -ion- — The longer form used before Latin endings.
  • -ion — The form carried into many English nouns.

Origin

An old Latin noun ending, inherited from earlier Indo-European word formation.

Note

The ending can name both an activity and what that activity produces.

227 / 423
A compact comparison shows social inhibition limiting expression: a woman sings expansively alone but becomes visibly self-restrained when a friend invites her to sing with an audience present.
noun

inhibition

in-hih-BISH-un/ˌɪnhɪˈbɪʃn/

A restraint that slows or prevents an activity.

Etymology
inLatinin, into, on, upon
+hibLatinhave, hold, or possess
+itionLatinan action, process, or result

The underlying image is holding something in or back. The noun named an authoritative prohibition and later a psychological check on an impulse, connecting external restraint with limits on one's own expression or action.

Full entry

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