Stations

How to spell stations

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce stations

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does stations mean?

1. nounFixed places where a service operates or where vehicles stop, such as railway, bus, or broadcasting points.
2. verbAssigns or posts a person to a particular place of duty.

Stations in a sentence

• noun

  The rail network added three new stations along the coastal line.

• verb

  The captain always stations a guard at the main entrance overnight.

• noun

  Both petrol stations on the motorway were closed for repairs.

• verb

  The company routinely stations a manager at each regional office.

Where does stations come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin statio, meaning 'a standing still', 'a post', or 'a place where one stands', which was built on the verb stare, 'to stand'. In Roman use a statio could be a military guard post or a place where ships rode at anchor, so the idea of a fixed appointed spot was there from the start. English took the word in through Old French station during the 1300s, first for a standing place or stopping point, and the meaning broadened over time to cover bus and railway stops, radio and television broadcasters, and posts of duty. The same stare root lies behind a large family of English words, including 'stationary', 'status', 'statue', and 'state', all sharing the sense of standing or being fixed. Remembering that connection to standing helps fix the -tion spelling, since the noun-forming suffix -ion is doing the work where the t and i meet.

How the word is built

• stat- (from Latin stare, to stand)
• -ion (noun-forming suffix)
• -s (plural/third-person ending)