Narration

How to spell narration

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce narration

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does narration mean?

1. nounThe act of telling a story or the spoken commentary that accompanies a film, recording, or presentation.

Narration in a sentence

• The documentary relied on calm narration to explain each scene.

• Her steady narration guided listeners through the audiobook.

Where does narration come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin narratio, meaning 'a relating' or 'an account', which was built on the verb narrare, 'to tell, relate, or recount'. That verb is itself connected to the adjective gnarus, meaning 'knowing' or 'acquainted with', so at its heart narration is about making something known by telling it. English picked the word up from Old French narration during the late Middle Ages, and by the fifteenth century it was settled in written English. The same Latin family quietly underlies several English relatives, including 'narrate' and 'narrative', and even shares deep roots with 'know' and 'ignore'. The spelling trap lives in that doubled r, inherited straight from narrare, since the single vowel before it tempts writers to drop one.

How the word is built

• narr- (from Latin narrare: to tell)
• -ation (noun of action/result)