# station
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English stacioun, borrowed from Anglo-Norman estation, from Latin statiōnem, accusative of statiō (“standing, post, job, position”), whence also Italian stazione. Doublet of stagione. Cognate with Ancient Greek ἵστημι (hístēmi), στάσις (stásis), Old English standan (whence English stand).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈsteɪʃən/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (UK); “a station”:(file)
* Audio (General Australian):(file)
* Rhymes: -eɪʃən

### Noun

station (plural stations)
* A stopping place.
** A regular stopping place for ground transportation.
    The next station is Esperanza.
** A ground transportation depot.
    It's right across from the bus station.
** A place where one stands or stays or is assigned to stand or stay.
    From my station at the front door, I greeted every visitor.
    All ships are on station, Admiral.
*** 1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC:" […] Meanwhile, lest anything should really be amiss, or any malefactor seek to escape by the back, you and the boy must go round the corner with a pair of good sticks and take your post at the laboratory door. We give you ten minutes, to get to your stations."
*** 1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./1/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:He walked. To the corner of Hamilton Place and Picadilly, and there stayed for a while, for it is a romantic station by night. The vague and careless rain looked like threads of gossamer silver passing across the light of the arc-lamps.
** A place where some object is provided.
    Collect a knife and fork from the cutlery station on the way to your table.
** (US) A gas station, service station.
*** 2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, New York Times, retrieved 31 October 2012:Localities across New Jersey imposed curfews to prevent looting. In Monmouth, Ocean and other counties, people waited for hours for gasoline at the few stations that had electricity. Supermarket shelves were stripped bare.
* A place where workers are stationed.
** An official building from which police or firefighters operate.
    The police station is opposite the fire station.
** A place where one performs a task or where one is on call to perform a task.
    The waitress was at her station preparing three checks.
    The station is part of a group of stations run by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
** A military base.
    She had a boyfriend at the station.
*** 2023 November 29, Philip Haigh, “New Piccadilly Line trains put to the test”, in RAIL, number 997, page 26:The dynamic tests at Wildenrath use continuous test tracks built on the site of a former Royal Air Force station that was vacated after the end of the Cold War.
** A place used for broadcasting radio or television; the broadcasting entity itself.
    I used to work at a radio station.
    I used to listen to that radio station.
** (computing) A device communicating over a network; a host.
    An Econet network is made up of a number of stations.
*** 2012, Colin Woodcock, The ZX Spectrum on Your PC (page 16)
    When entering a LOAD/SAVE/FORMAT, etc command you not only had to identify the destination of the data (ie, microdrive, network or RS232), but the number of the drive or station too.
** (Australia, New Zealand) A very large sheep or cattle farm.
*** 1890, A. B. Paterson, The Man From Snowy River:There was movement at the station, for the word had passed around, / that the colt from old Regret had got away,
*** 1993, Kay Walsh, Joy W. Hooton, Dowker, L. O., entry in Australian Autobiographical Narratives: 1850-1900, page 69,
    Tiring of sheep, he took work on cattle stations, mustering cattle on vast unfenced holdings, and looking for work ‘nigger-bossing’, or supervising Aboriginal station hands.
*** 2003, Margo Daly, Anne Dehne, Rough Guide to Australia, page 654:The romance of the gritty station owner in a crumpled Akubra, his kids educated from the remote homestead by the School of the Air, while triple-trailer road trains drag tornadoes of dust across the plains, creates a stirring idea of the modern-day pioneer battling against the elemental Outback.
** (historical) In British India, the place where the English officials of a district, or the officers of a garrison (not in a fortress) reside.
*** 1881, International Congress of Medicine, Transactions of the 1st, 2nd, 4th-17th Congress, page 541:It was my fate to commence my career in the medical service forty years ago in the presanitary days, long before the introduction of modern methods of diagnosis, at two of the most unhealthy stations in the whole of India — Bellary and Secunderabad.
** 1889, Rudyard Kipling, “A Wayside Comedy”, in Under the Deodars, Boston: The Greenock Press, published 1899, page 60:When a man is absolutely alone in a Station he runs a certain risk of falling into evil ways.
* (Christianity) Any of the Stations of the Cross.
* (Christianity) The Roman Catholic fast of the fourth and sixth days of the week, Wednesday and Friday, in memory of the council which condemned Christ, and of his passion.
* (Christianity) A church in which the procession of the clergy halts on stated days to say stated prayers.
** 1513, Henry Bradshaw, The Life of Saint Werburge of Chester:So dyd Offa […] Deuoutly to vysyte all the hole stacyons of the cytee of Rome.
* Standing; rank; position.
    She had ambitions beyond her station.
** 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:The greater part have kept, I see, / Their station.
** c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:And they in France of the best rank and station
* (Newfoundland) A harbour or cove with a foreshore suitable for a facility to support nearby fishing.
* (surveying) Any of a sequence of equally spaced points along a path.
* The particular place, or kind of situation, in which a species naturally occurs; a habitat.
* (mining) An enlargement in a shaft or galley, used as a landing, or passing place, or for the accommodation of a pump, tank, etc.
* Post assigned; office; the part or department of public duty which a person is appointed to perform; sphere of duty or occupation; employment.
** 1704, Robert Nelson, A Companion for the Festivals and Fasts of the Church of England‎, New, Revised and Corrected edition, published 1837, page 18:Moreover, by spending this day [Sunday] in religious exercises, we acquire new strength and resolution to perform God's will in our several stations the week following.
* (medicine) The position of the foetal head in relation to the distance from the ischial spines, measured in centimetres.
* (obsolete) The fact of standing still; motionlessness, stasis.
** 1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, III.5:[…] the cross legs [are] moving or resting together, so that two are always in motion and two in station at the same time […]
* (astronomy) The apparent standing still of a superior planet just before it begins or ends its retrograde motion.

#### Usage notes

With regard to railway stations, in North America one is usually said to be at or in a station. The UK usage "on the station" is not found in North America.

#### Synonyms

* (broadcasting entity): (that broadcasts television) channel
* (ground transport depot): sta (abbreviation), stn (abbreviation)
* (military base): base, military base
* (large sheep or cattle farm): farm, ranch

#### Derived terms

* above one's station
* action stations
* aid station
* aircraft station
* baby changing station
* base station
* base station subsystem
* battle station
* battle stations
* bike station
* break-of-gauge station
* broadcast station
* bus station
* cable station
* calling station
* cattle station
* charging station
* clearing station
* coach station
* coaling station
* comfort station
* docking station
* dog station
* dressing station
* earth station
* Ferryhill Station
* filling station
* fire station
* flag station
* fueling station
* fuelling station
* fuel station
* gasoline station
* gas station
* ghost station
* goods station
* ground station
* guard station
* Hart Station
* head station
* hill-station
* hill station
* hydrogen station
* lactation station
* Lake Station
* listening station
* McMurdo Station
* meal station
* metro station
* Micheldever Station
* mission station
* mobile station
* motor station
* nuclear power station
* numbers station
* ocean station vessel
* out of station
* outstation
* packet station
* panic stations
* petrol filling station
* petrol station
* PlayStation, Playstation
* police station
* polling station
* pony keg station
* power station
* pull station
* pumping station
* radar station
* radio station
* railroad station
* railway station
* Ratho Station
* recycling station
* relay station
* run of station
* service station
* sheep station
* social station
* space station, spacestation
* state
* stationary
* station bill
* station break
* station car
* station chef
* station hand
* station-house
* station house
* stationkeeping
* stationmaster
* stationmistress
* station pointer
* station sedan
* Stations of the Cross
* station staff
* station throat
* station time
* station-to-station
* station to station
* station wagon
* stationward
* storage power station
* substation, sub-station
* subway station
* swing station
* television station, TV station
* terminal station
* that train has already left the station
* that train has left the station
* through station
* total station
* train station
* triangulation station
* trigonometrical station
* Tube station
* Udny Station
* underground station
* union station
* Uphall Station
* urination station
* voting station
* way-station
* way station, waystation
* weather station
* weigh station
* whaling station
* Widdrington Station
* wind power station
* work station, workstation
* X station
* zero station
* Zhongshan Station

#### Descendants

* → Hindi: स्टेशन (sṭeśan)
* → Irish: stáisiún
* → Malay: stesen
* → Punjabi: سٹیشن/ਸਟੇਸ਼ਨ (sṭeśan)
* → Scottish Gaelic: stèisean
* → Swahili: stesheni
* → Urdu: سْٹیشَن (sṭeśan), اِسْٹیشَن (isṭeśan)

#### References

* “station” in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2004. (Newfoundland station)

### Verb

station (third-person singular simple present stations, present participle stationing, simple past and past participle stationed) (transitive)
* (usually passive) To put in place to perform a task.
    The host stationed me at the front door to greet visitors.
    I was stationed on the pier.
** 1950 March, H. A. Vallance, “On Foot Across the Forth Bridge”, in Railway Magazine, page 149:Watchmen are stationed continuously at each end of the bridge, and the main spans are patrolled twice during the night.
** 2012 November 10, Amy Lawrence, “Fulham's Mark Schwarzer saves late penalty in dramatic draw at Arsenal”, in The Guardian‎:The Costa Rican's lofted corner exposed Arsenal's own problems with marking, and Berbatov, stationed right in the middle of goal, only needed to take a gentle amble back to find the space to glance past Vito Mannone
* To put in place to perform military duty.
    They stationed me overseas just as fighting broke out.
    I was stationed at Fort Richie.

#### Translations
### Anagrams

* sat on it

## Danish
### Etymology

From Old French estation, estacion from Latin statiō (“position, station”), derived from the verb stare (“to stand”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [sd̥aˈɕoˀn]

### Noun

station c (singular definite stationen, plural indefinite stationer)
* station (major stopping place for busses or trains)
* station (a building which is the center for an institution, in particular a police station)
* station (a company broadcasting radio or television)

#### Derived terms

* brandstation
* endestation
* flyvestation
* mellemstation
* politistation
* pumpestation
* radiostation
* rutebilstation
* stationsby
* togstation

### References

* “station” in Den Danske Ordbog

## Dutch
### Etymology

Borrowed from French station.

### Pronunciation

* (Netherlands) IPA: /staːˈʃɔn/, /stɑˈʃɔn/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: sta‧ti‧on
* Rhymes: -ɔn

### Noun

station n (plural stations, diminutive stationnetje n)
* station (place for vehicles to stop)
    Synonym: statie
* (computer hardware) disk drive
* radio station or television station

#### Derived terms

* benzinestation
* buitenstation
* busstation
* eindstation
* hoofdstation
* metrostation
* NS-station
* onderzoeksstation
* ooievaarsstation
* pompstation
* ruimtestation
* stationschef
* stationsgebouw
* tramstation
* treinstation
* tussenstation
* weerstation
* wegwaaistation

#### Descendants

* → Caribbean Javanese: stasiyun, setasiyun
* → Indonesian: stasiun
* → Javanese: ꦱꦼꦠꦱꦶꦪꦸꦤ꧀ (setasiyun)
* → Sranan Tongo: stâsyon

### See also

* depot

## French
### Etymology

Inherited from Old French estation, estacion, borrowed from Latin stātiōnem.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sta.sjɔ̃/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

station f (plural stations)
* station

#### Derived terms

* station balnéaire
* station de lavage
* station de radio
* station de ski
* station debout
* station d’accueil
* station essence
* station mobile
* station spatiale

#### Descendants

* → Romanian: stație
* → Turkish: istasyon

### Further reading

* “station”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

### Anagrams

* tâtions

## Interlingua
### Noun

station (plural stationes)
* station (place where workers are stationed)

## Scots
### Etymology

From Middle English stācioun, from Anglo-Norman estation, from Latin statiōnem, accusative of statiō (“standing, post, job, position”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈsteʃən]

### Noun

station (plural stations)
* station

### References

* “station”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.
* Eagle, Andy, editor (2025), “station”, in The Online Scots Dictionary‎
* Graham, John J (1979) “station”, in The Shetland Dictionary‎, Lerwick: Shetland Times Ltd, →ISBN

## Swedish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Old French estation, estacion from Latin statiōnem, accusative of statiō.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /staˈɧuːn/
* (Finland) IPA: /staˈt͡ʃuːn/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

station c
* station
** A facility used for broadcasting of transmissions.
** A facility (used by a state run department) or by scientists for collecting data.
** Place where one exits or enters a train, bus etc.

#### Derived terms

(facility used for broadcasting):
* radiostation
* relästation
* reservstation
* stolpstation
* sändarstation
* tevestation
(facility used by a department or collecting of data):
* brandstation
* drakstation
* forskningsstation
* havsstation
* landstation
* meterologstation
* missionsstation
* polarstation
* polisstation
* skogsstation
* slättstation
* tullstation
* väderstation
(place where one exits or enters a train, bus etc.):
* ankomststation
* avgångsstation
* bestämmelsestation
* busstation
* centralstation
* diligensstation
* droskstation
* etappstation
* flygstation
* godsstation
* huvudstation
* hällstation
* ilastningsstation
* järnvägsstation
* karavanstation
* kolstation
* pendeltågsstationpoststation
* påstigningsstation
* raststation
* reservstation
* resestation
* samlingsstation
* skjutsombytesstation
* skjutsstation
* slutstation
* stationsbyggnad
* stationshus
* stationsklocka
* stationssignatur
* säckstation
* tunnelbanestation
* utgångsstation
* ändstation

#### Related terms

* stationär