Stations

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈsteɪ.ʃənz/

Definitions

1. Locations where buses, trains, or other transport vehicles stop to pick up or drop off passengers ; places set up for particular functions or services like police or research ; facilities that transmit radio or television programs to the public
2. Designated points along travel routes for passengers to embark or disembark ; buildings or complexes intended for carrying out specialized tasks or services ; centers where media signals are sent out for broadcasting
3. Sites where public transport vehicles pause during their routes ; establishments organized for carrying out certain duties or activities ; stations equipped to broadcast audio or visual content to an audience

Etymology: "Stations" is simply the plural of "station," so the story belongs to the singular. The word came into Middle English as "stacioun," borrowed from Anglo-Norman "estation," which traces back to Latin "statiō," meaning standing, post, job, or position. The Latin noun comes from the same root as "stand," and the word's sense of a fixed place where one stands on duty is the thread that connects it to everything since. That original sense of a post where someone stands is still visible in the word's history. A Roman "statiō" could be a military picket or a guard post, and the idea of a stationary point carried over into English, where a station became a place assigned for a function, whether a police post, a fire house, or a stopping point on a route. Transport stops took the name from this older sense of a fixed post along a journey, so a bus or train station is, at root, a place where something is kept standing in a known location.

Synonyms: depots, terminals, stops, posts, ports