Standard Lemma guide

anion

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: ăn'-ī-ŏn
  • General-American: /ˈænˌaɪ.ən/
  • General-American: /ˈænˌaɪ.ɑn/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈænˌaɪ.ɒn/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: AE1 N AY2 AO0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A negatively charged ion.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: cation

Broader terms: ion

2

noun

Meaning 2

a negatively charged ion

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: ion

Narrower terms: hydroxide ion, hydroxyl ion, superoxide, superoxide anion

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h2en- Proto-Hellenic *aná Ancient Greek ᾰ̓νᾰ́ (ănắ) Ancient Greek ᾰ̓νᾰ- (ănă-) Proto-Indo-European *h1ey- Proto-Indo-European *h1éyti Proto-Hellenic *éimi Ancient Greek ῐ̓όν (ĭón) Ancient Greek ἀνῐόν (anĭón)lbor. English anion Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἀνιόν (anión, “(thing) going up”), neuter present participle of ἄνειμι (áneimi, “go up”), from ἀνά (aná, “up”) + εἶμι (eîmi, “go”). Coined by English polymath William Whewell in 1834 for Michael Faraday, who introduced it later that year. By surface analysis, an- (“up, away, forward”) + ion.

Across languages

Translations

40 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: անիոն (anion) — negatively charged ion
  • Belarusian: аніён (anijón) — negatively charged ion
  • Bengali: ঋণাত্মক আয়ন (rinattok aẏon) — negatively charged ion
  • Bulgarian: анио́н (anión) — negatively charged ion
  • Catalan: anió — negatively charged ion
  • Chinese Mandarin: 陰離子 /阴离子 (yīnlízǐ) — negatively charged ion
  • Czech: aniont — negatively charged ion
  • Dutch: anion — negatively charged ion
  • Esperanto: anjono — negatively charged ion
  • Finnish: anioni — negatively charged ion
  • French: anion — negatively charged ion
  • Galician: anión — negatively charged ion
  • German: Anion — negatively charged ion
  • Greek: ανιόν (anión) — negatively charged ion
  • Hungarian: anion — negatively charged ion
  • Ido: aniono — negatively charged ion
  • Irish: ainian — negatively charged ion
  • Italian: anione — negatively charged ion
  • Japanese: 陰イオン (in-ion) — negatively charged ion
  • Japanese: アニオン (anion) — negatively charged ion
  • Kabuverdianu: anioni — negatively charged ion
  • Kabuverdianu: anione — negatively charged ion
  • Khmer: អាញ៉ុង (ʼaañong) — negatively charged ion
  • Korean: 음이온 (eumion) — negatively charged ion
  • Manx: aneean — negatively charged ion
  • Occitan: anion — negatively charged ion
  • Polish: anion — negatively charged ion
  • Portuguese: ânion — negatively charged ion
  • Portuguese: anião — negatively charged ion
  • Portuguese: aníon — negatively charged ion
  • Portuguese: anionte — negatively charged ion
  • Russian: анио́н (anión) — negatively charged ion
  • Slovene: anion — negatively charged ion
  • Spanish: anión — negatively charged ion
  • Swedish: anjon — negatively charged ion
  • Tagalog: tahapik — negatively charged ion
  • Turkish: anyon — negatively charged ion
  • Ukrainian: аніо́н (anión) — negatively charged ion
  • Vietnamese: ly tử âm — negatively charged ion
  • Welsh: anion — negatively charged ion
Real reading context

anion in complete knowledge articles