Violation

How to spell violation

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce violation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does violation mean?

1. nounThe act of breaking or failing to comply with a law, rule, agreement, or right.

Violation in a sentence

• The inspector issued a fine for a clear violation of the safety code.

• Parking in that bay is a violation of the building regulations.

Where does violation come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb violare, which meant 'to treat with force', 'to outrage', or 'to break'. That verb was itself related to vis, the Latin noun for 'force' or 'strength', so the idea of force has been bound up in the word from the very start. The action noun violatio formed in Latin to describe the act of breaking or profaning something sacred or lawful. English took the word in through Old French during the late 1300s and 1400s, applying it first to the breaking of oaths, treaties, and holy places. Over time it broadened to cover any breach of a rule, a right, or a law, while keeping its harsher sense of bodily assault. The same vis root survives in the everyday words 'violent' and 'violence', which is a useful reminder that the second syllable is spelled with an 'o', not the schwa-like sound the ear sometimes suggests.

How the word is built

• viol- (from Latin violare: to treat with force, to break)
• -ation (noun-forming suffix indicating an action or its result)