Suction

How to spell suction

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce suction

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does suction mean?

1. nounThe force created when air or fluid is drawn out of a space, causing surfaces or substances to be pulled together or in.

Suction in a sentence

• The vacuum cleaner lost suction when the bag became full.

• The dentist used a small tube to provide suction during the procedure.

Where does suction come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Suction entered English in the early 1600s from the Late Latin noun suctionem, the accusative form of suctio, which simply meant 'a sucking'. That noun was built on suctus, the past participle of the Latin verb sugere, meaning 'to suck'. The same Latin verb lies behind related English words such as 'suck' itself and the technical term 'sucrose', and it gives us the medical word 'suckle' in spirit if not in direct line. Because the spelling preserves the Latin -ct- cluster from suctus, the word is pronounced with a soft -tion ending even though the root keeps its hard letters, and this is the small surprise for writers: the 't' belongs to the root, not to the suffix. The word arrived in English alongside the early science of pumps and air pressure, where describing how a vacuum draws fluid or air became practically important.

How the word is built

• suct- (from Latin suctus, 'sucked', past participle of sugere 'to suck')
• -ion (noun-forming suffix)