igation

Iigation is a linguistic term used to describe a pattern in English word formation in which nouns of action or process are formed by the combination of a base with the sequence -igation. It is most evident in words such as mitigation, investigation, and ligation, where the root conveys the action and the suffix marks the resulting noun. The form traces back to Latin -igātiō, and entered English via Latin and Old French.

The -igation pattern typically appears when a verb base contains an -ig- element or when Latin roots preserve -ig- during derivation. While not every verb yields a corresponding -igation noun, the suffix is productive in formal and technical vocabulary, including legal, scientific, and medical usage. The resulting nouns often refer to a concrete or abstract action, event, or process associated with the root.

In biology and medicine, ligation is a common term referring to the act of tying or binding, or the surgical procedure that achieves this. This illustrates how the same suffix can form terms across disciplines, from mitigation (lessening impact) to investigation (systematic inquiry).

Notes on usage indicate that iigation as a standalone descriptive label is uncommon outside linguistic analysis. In ordinary writing, speakers and writers typically recognize the individual words formed with the suffix rather than referencing the suffix itself as a separate category.

See also: suffix -igation, English morphology, word formation, Latin derivation in English.