gation

Gation is a term that does not have a widely recognized standalone meaning in standard English. It does not appear as an established concept in major dictionaries and is not treated as a formal scientific or academic term. Instead, gation typically arises as a string of letters within longer words, often as part of the Latin-derived suffixes that signal action or process, such as in words ending in -ation or -tion. Because there is no fixed definition, the precise sense of gation depends on the word in which it appears and on the surrounding morphemes.

In linguistic discussion, if used at all, gation is not treated as a productive affix with a fixed semantic value; rather, it is seen as part of historical word formation that yields the final suffix in particular words. In nontechnical writing and creative contexts, gation may be defined by an author as a specific concept, field, or process, but such definitions are not standardized and vary by work.

Because gation lacks a universal definition, readers are advised to consider the surrounding context to determine its intended meaning. The term commonly appears only as part of longer, familiar words rather than as an independent concept.

See also: negation, agitation, migration, suffix -ation, gating.