-faction
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.79 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "lith- (“stone”) + -i- + -faction → lithifaction (“the compaction and cementation of sediment into rock”)"
- "aer- (“air”) + -i- + -faction → aerifaction (“aeration, hyperinflation of the lungs”)"
Etymology
Borrowed from French -faction, from Latin -factiō. This is the ending that arises when forming action nouns using -tiō (equivalent to English -tion) from compound verbs ending in -faciō (“to make, to do”), which carry a causative meaning. For example, liqueō (“to be liquid”) + faciō > liquefaciō (“to make (something) liquid”) > liquefactiō > English liquefaction. The suffix was later applied to other Latin stems where no Latin verb in -faciō existed (e.g. lubrifaction) and, eventually, even more freely (but see usage notes). Compare -ification and -ication.
Origin
- Source language: Latin