Etymologically
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station

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈsteɪ.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English stacioun,[2][3] borrowed from Old French station, stacion, estacion “site, location; station of the Cross; standstill”,[4][3] from Latin statiō (“a standing; a post, position; military post; anchorage”) (accusative statiōnem),[4][3][2] from stāre (“to stand”),[3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *sta- (“to stand, make or be firm”).[4][2] It is related to stand and state.[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A place one normally occupies: about 1280[3] or the late 13th century.[4]

Semantic evolution

Each of the holy places visited in turn by pilgrims is from the late 14th century, and the Stations of the Cross from the 1550s.[4][7] A stopping place on a journey is from 1585,[3] and a regular stopping place on coach routes by 1797, applied to railways by 1830.[4][3] A military post is from about 1600, and one's rank or place in society from about 1600[4] or 1675.[3] A place where people are sent for a special purpose, as a police station, is by 1817,[4] and a place for transmitting radio signals from 1912.[4][3] In Australia a station was first the house and buildings of a sheep-run, and then the whole run.[8] The verb, “to assign to a post”, is from 1748, in Smollett.[3][4]

Timeline

  • c. 1280 – a place one occupies.[3]
  • late 14th century – a holy place on a pilgrimage.[4]
  • 1585 – a stopping place on a journey.[3]
  • c. 1600 – a military post; rank in society.[4]
  • 1748 – verb, to assign to a post.[3]
  • 1797 – a coach stop.[4]
  • 1817 – a police station.[4]
  • 1830 – a railway station.[4]
  • 1912 – a radio station.[4][3]
  • 1942 – station break.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A place where trains or buses stop to let passengers on and off; the building there.
  2. A building or place from which a service is provided: a police station.
  3. A place where a person is assigned to stand or work; a post.
  4. A company or channel that broadcasts radio or television programmes.
  5. Social position; rank.
  6. (Australia, New Zealand) A large sheep or cattle farm; a ranch.
  7. Each of the Stations of the Cross.

Verb

  1. To assign to a station or post.

Word family

  • stational
  • restation

Usage notes

The adjective stationary, “not moving”, comes from the same Latin word and is not to be confused with stationery, “writing materials”, from stationer, once a bookseller or publisher.[7]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Morris, Edward E. (1898), Austral English: A Dictionary of Australasian Words, Phrases and Usages, London: Macmillan