lenition
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
lenition
- /lɪˈnɪʃən/ UK
- /ləˈnɪʃən/ UK
- /liːˈnɪʃən/ UK
- /ləˈnɪʃən/ US
- /liˈnɪʃən/ US
Where it comes from
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.
noun lenitions
-
A weakening of articulation causing a consonant to become lenis (soft).
One of these processes, the process of T-Lenition, is extremely common, even though it takes place only when the input consonant is adjacent to a small number of affixes. In this change, a stopped consonant, [p t k b d g], becomes a fricative, [s, z, š, ž]. This process is called lenition, or weaken
Opposite: fortition
Translations
Every language
noun weakening of consonant articulation
| Español | lenición, lenificación |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 연음화 yeoneumhwa |
| 日本語 | 子音弱化 shiin jakka |
| 中文 | 輔音弱化 /辅音弱化 yǔyīn ruòhuà, 弱音化 ruòyīnhuà |
| Português | lenização, lenição |
| Français | lénition, adoucissement, mutation adoucissante |
| Deutsch | Lenierung, Lenisierung |
| Italiano | lenizione, mutazione dolce |
| Русский | лени́ция lenícija |
| Tiếng Việt | lơi hóa |
| עברית | החלשות עיצורים hekhalshút itsurím |
Talk about this word "lenition." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/lenition. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. lenition. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/lenition "lenition." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/lenition.Cite this
@misc{lenition_2026,
title = {lenition},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/lenition},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
