-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.

27 / 371

noun

assertion

uh-SUR-shun/əˈsɜːrʃn/

A firm declaration that a claim or right is valid.

The witness delivers a confident assertion in court.

A witness confidently presents testimony from a courtroom witness stand, addressing an attentive questioning attorney with a firm, composed speaking gesture.

Etymology

asLatinto, toward; addition; sometimes emphasis

+sertLatinjoin, link, or arrange

+ionLatinan action, process, or result

The underlying image is “joining oneself” to a view, thereby claiming or maintaining it. The noun names such a declaration: a statement presented as true, though not necessarily supported by evidence.

In context

Slade L.52:07

she's making the assertion that Meline had been taken which is already conclusionary then calling on a divine witness by the inclusion of the word God

The McCann's: Embedded Confessions - Statement Analyst Peter Hyatt.

More examples

The report repeats several untested assertions.
Her refusal became an assertion of independence.
A confident assertion is not proof.

Forms

assertion · assertions

assert verb — state confidently

Similar words

claim: Claim is general; assertion emphasizes stating something confidently as true.
allegation: An allegation often concerns unproven wrongdoing; an assertion can concern any subject.