Creacioun

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act of bringing something into existence, as in the making of a thing for the first time ; the whole universe and all the living and nonliving things that God or nature has made
2. Bringing a thing into being from nothing or from raw material ; the entire created world, including all that exists within it
3. The process of producing something new that did not exist before ; the totality of all made things, especially the cosmos as a whole

Etymology: "Creacioun" is a Middle English spelling of "creation." Its ending reflects the Old French form of the word, which came from Latin "creatio," meaning a making or producing. The Latin "creatio" derives from "creare," which originally meant to bring forth or produce, as with offspring. Some scholars link "creare" to "crescere," to grow, though that connection is debated. The Latin verb was not reserved for divine making. Romans also used "creare" to mean appointing someone to an office, such as electing magistrates. The idea of making something from nothing came later, through Christian writers who used the verb to describe God's creation of the world. In English, the "-ioun" spelling was common in the later medieval period, before spelling became standardized. It survives in the modern word only as "creation," having lost its Middle English spelling.