noun · 6 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.
UK:/nəˈɹeɪ.ʃən/
UK:[nəˈɹeɪ.ʃn̩]
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US:/ˌnæɹˈeɪ.ʃən/
US:[ˌnæɹˈeɪ.ʃn̩]
US:/nɛɹˈeɪ.ʃən/
US:[nɛɹˈeɪ.ʃn̩]
Australian:/nəˈɹæɪ.ʃən/
Australian:[nəˈɹæɪ.ʃn̩]
rhymes with -eɪʃən
CMU ARPABET:N EH0 R EY1 SH AH0 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The act of recounting or relating in order the particulars of some action, occurrence, or affair; a narrating.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
The film used voice-over narration to explain the story.
His calm narration made the documentary easy to follow.
The novel contains a first-person narration.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
That which is narrated or recounted; an orderly recital of the details and particulars of some transaction or event, or of a series of transactions or events; a story or narrative.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
That part of an oration in which the speaker makes his or her statement of facts.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, rhetoric, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
(rhetoric) the second section of an oration in which the facts are set forth
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: section, subdivision
5
noun
Meaning 5
the act of giving an account describing incidents or a course of events
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
his narration was hesitant
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: recital, yarn
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: report, account
Narrower terms: relation, telling, recounting
6
noun
Meaning 6
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
his narrative was interesting
Disney's stories entertain adults as well as children
