Skip to the word

Added 10 October 2026

lenition

/lɪˈnɪʃən/ noun

In Latin: lenitio Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about lenition at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A weakening of articulation causing a consonant to become lenis (soft).

Origin

Analyzable as lenis + -ition, or as if from Latin lēnīt(us) + -ion, or Latin lēnītiō (“softening”) from lēniō (“soften”) + -tiō (action noun suffix) (attested since at least the 1500s, the same timeframe lenition is first attested in English with the sense "assuaging"). Modelled on German Lenierung.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word