Satisfaction

How to spell satisfaction

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce satisfaction

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does satisfaction mean?

1. nounThe pleasant feeling of contentment that comes when a need, desire, or expectation has been fully met.

Satisfaction in a sentence

• She finished the project with a deep sense of satisfaction.

• The survey measured customer satisfaction across every branch.

Where does satisfaction come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin satisfactio, which described the act of making amends or giving someone enough to settle a claim. It was built from satis, meaning 'enough', and facere, 'to make or do', so the literal sense was 'making enough' to discharge a debt or duty. English took it through Old French satisfaction in the 1300s, when it carried a specifically religious and legal sense of doing penance or making reparation for a wrong. Over time the meaning broadened from settling a debt to the warm feeling of having one's needs or desires fully met. The same satis root survives in 'satisfy', 'satiate' and 'sate', all of which trace back to that idea of being filled to the point of enough.

How the word is built

• satis- (enough)
• fac (from facere: to make/do)
• -tion (noun suffix)