ion

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ion"

English

Etymology 1

From the ending of anion and cation, which in turn is from Ancient Greek ἰόν (ión, “going”), neuter present participle of εἶμι (eîmi, “I go”). Coined by English polymath William Whewell in 1834 for Michael Faraday, who introduced it later that year.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: ī'ən, IPA^(key): /ˈaɪən/; enPR: ī'ŏn, IPA^(key): /ˈaɪ.ɒn/
• (US) enPR: ī'ŏn, IPA^(key): /ˈaɪ.ɑn/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪən, -aɪɒn
• Homophone: iron (in some accents only)

Noun

ion (plural ions)

2. An atom or group of atoms bearing an electrical charge, such as the sodium and chlorine atoms in a salt solution.

   Hyponyms: (cardinal types) anion (−); cation (+); for many more, see Derived terms

Derived terms

• alkanium ion
• amidium ion
• aminium ion
• amphoion
• anion
• arenium ion
• arenonium ion
• arsanylium ion
• autoion
• benzenium ion
• benzenonium ion
• bromonium ion
• byion
• carbenium ion
• carbonium ion
• cation
• chlorion
• chloronium ion
• coion
• common-ion effect
• complex ion
• counterion
• diion
• dipolar ion
• electrion
• electron
• fluoronium ion
• gegenion
• halonium ion
• heavy ion
• hydrion
• hydrogen ion
• hydronium ion
• interion
• iodonium ion
• ion carrier
• ion channel
• ion channelopathy
• ion chromatography
• ion engine
• ion exchange
• ion exchange chromatography
• ion exchange resin
• ionic
• ionics
• ionise, ionize
• ionist
• ion milling
• ion mirror
• iono-
• ionogel
• ionogenic
• ionome
• ionophore
• ion-selective electrode
• ion selective electrode
• ion-selective membrane
• ion storm
• ion trap
• ion wind
• Li-ion
• lithium ion battery
• lithium-ion battery
• macroion
• microion
• monoion
• multiion
• nebenion
• oxoion
• oxonium ion
• oxylium ion
• photoion
• polyion
• radical ion
• secondary ion mass spectrometry
• sodion
• solion
• spectator ion
• sulphion
• superion
• t
• thermion
• un-ionized
• unionized

Translations

atom or group of atoms bearing an electrical charge

• Albanian: jon (sq) m
• Arabic: شَارِد m (šārid), أَيُون m (ʔayūn)
• Armenian: իոն (hy) (ion)
• Asturian: ión m
• Basque: ioi (eu)
• Bengali: আয়ন (bn) (aẏon)
• Bulgarian: йон m (jon)
• Burmese: အိုင်းယွန်း (uing:ywan:)
• Catalan: ió (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 離子 / 离子 (zh) (lízǐ)

• Czech: iont (cs) m
• Danish: ion (da) c
• Dutch: ion (nl)
• Esperanto: jono
• Estonian: ioon
• Finnish: ioni (fi)
• French: ion (fr) m
• Galician: ión (gl) m
• Georgian: იონი (ioni)
• German: Ion (de) n
• Greek: ιόν (el) n (ión)
• Hungarian: ion (hu)
• Icelandic: jón f, fareind f
• Ido: iono (io)
• Indonesian: ion (id)
• Italian: ione (it) m
• Japanese: イオン (ja) (ion)
• Khmer: យាត្រាណូ (yea tra no), ចរាណូ (jor ra no), អ៊ីយ៉ុង (ʼiiyong)
• Korean: 이온 (ion)
• Latvian: jons (lv) m
• Lombard: jun
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ion (no) n

  Nynorsk: ion n

• Persian: یون (fa) (yon)
• Polish: jon (pl) m
• Portuguese:

  Brazilian Portuguese: íon (pt) m

  European Portuguese: ião (pt) m

• Quechua: iyun
• Russian: ио́н (ru) m (ión)
• Serbo-Croatian: јон m (jon), ion (sh) m
• Sicilian: ioni (scn) m
• Slovak: ión m
• Slovene: ion (sl) m
• Spanish: ion (es) m, ión (es) m
• Swahili: ioni
• Swedish: jon (sv) c
• Tagalog: dagipik
• Thai: ไอออน (th) (ai-ɔ̂n)
• Turkish: iyon (tr)
• Ukrainian: йон m (jon)
• Vietnamese: ion (vi), ly tử
• Volapük: yion (vo)
• Welsh: ïon m

Etymology 2

From a reduction of I don't.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaɪˌoʊn/

Phrase

ion

1. (African-American Vernacular, slang) I don't.

   ion know what 2 do

   I don't know what to do

   ion want 2

   I don't want to

Anagrams

• oni, NOI, Ino, ONI, NIO, -ino

Czech

Alternative forms

• iont

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈjon]
• IPA^(key): [ˈɪjon]
• IPA^(key): [ˈjoːn]
• IPA^(key): [ˈɪjoːn]

Noun

ion m inan

1. ion

Declension

Declension of ion (hard masculine inanimate irreg-stem)

	singular	plural
nominative	ion	ionty
genitive	iontu	iontů
dative	iontu	iontům
accusative	ion	ionty
vocative	ionte	ionty
locative	iontu	iontech
instrumental	iontem	ionty

Further reading

• “ion”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “ion”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “ion”, in Akademický slovník cizích slov at prirucka.ujc.cas.cz [Academic dictionary of foreign words] (in Czech), 1995

Danish

Alternative forms

• jon

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἰόν (ión, “going”).

Noun

ion (singular definite ionen, plural indefinite ioner)

1. (chemistry, physics) an ion

Declension

Declension of ion

gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	ion	ionen	ioner	ionerne
genitive	ions	ionens	ioners	ionernes

See also

• ionisere

References

• “ion” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English ion.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /iˈɔn/, /jɔn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ion
• Rhymes: -ɔn

Noun

ion n (plural ionen, no diminutive)

1. ion (charged atom or compound)

Derived terms

• ioniseren

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈion/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Audio 3:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ion
• Syllabification: i‧on

Pronoun

ion

1. accusative of io

French

Etymology

English ion.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jɔ̃/, /i.ɔ̃/

• Audio (France (Brétigny-sur-Orge)):

  (file)

Noun

ion m (plural ions)

1. (physical chemistry) ion

Descendants

• → Persian: یون (yon)

Further reading

• “ion”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Hungarian

Etymology

From English ion, from Ancient Greek ἰόν (ión, “going”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈijon]
• Rhymes: -on
• Hyphenation: ion
• Syllabification: i‧on

Noun

ion (plural ionok)

1. (chemistry, physics) ion

Declension

Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	ion	ionok
accusative	iont	ionokat
dative	ionnak	ionoknak
instrumental	ionnal	ionokkal
causal-final	ionért	ionokért
translative	ionná	ionokká
terminative	ionig	ionokig
essive-formal	ionként	ionokként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	ionban	ionokban
superessive	ionon	ionokon
adessive	ionnál	ionoknál
illative	ionba	ionokba
sublative	ionra	ionokra
allative	ionhoz	ionokhoz
elative	ionból	ionokból
delative	ionról	ionokról
ablative	iontól	ionoktól
non-attributive possessive – singular	ioné	ionoké
non-attributive possessive – plural	ionéi	ionokéi

Possessive forms of ion

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	ionom	ionjaim
2nd person sing.	ionod	ionjaid
3rd person sing.	ionja	ionjai
1st person plural	ionunk	ionjaink
2nd person plural	ionotok	ionjaitok
3rd person plural	ionjuk	ionjaik

Further reading

• ion in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from English ion, from Ancient Greek ἰόν (ión, “going”), neuter present participle of εἶμι (eîmi, “I go”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈion/ [ˈi.ɔn]
• Rhymes: -on
• Syllabification: i‧on

Noun

ion (plural ion-ion)

1. (chemistry) ion (atom or group of atoms bearing an electrical charge)

Hyponyms

• ion anorganik
• ion hidrogen
• ion hidroksida
• ion hidronium
• ion jemputan
• ion kalium
• ion kalsium
• ion karbonat
• ion klorida
• ion kompleks
• ion konservatif
• ion lawan
• ion logam
• ion magnesium
• ion negatif
• ion nitrat
• ion nonkonservatif
• ion pelepas struktur
• ion penonton
• ion positif
• ion sianida
• ion tembaga

Derived terms

• berion
• mengion
• mengionkan
• pengion
• pengionan
• terion
• terionkan

Further reading

• “ion”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Japanese

Romanization

ion

1. Rōmaji transcription of いおん
2. Rōmaji transcription of イオン

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἰόν (ión, “going”).

Noun

ion n (definite singular ionet, indefinite plural ioner, definite plural iona or ionene)

1. (chemistry, physics) an ion

Derived terms

• ionisk
• ionosfære

References

• “ion” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἰόν (ión, “going”).

Noun

ion n (definite singular ionet, indefinite plural ion, definite plural iona)

1. (chemistry, physics) an ion

Derived terms

• ionisk
• ionosfære

References

• “ion” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Romanian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey-

Proto-Indo-European *h₁éyti

Proto-Hellenic *éimi

Ancient Greek ἰόν (ión)der.

English ionbor.

French ionbor.

Romanian ion

Borrowed from French ion.

Noun

ion m (plural ioni)

1. ion

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	ion	ionul	ioni	ionii
genitive-dative	ion	ionului	ioni	ionilor
vocative	ionule		ionilor

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἰόν (ión, “going”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ǐoːn/
• Hyphenation: i‧on

Noun

ìōn m inan (Cyrillic spelling ѝо̄н)

1. (chemistry, physics) ion

Declension

    Declension of ion

	singular	plural
nominative	ion	ioni
genitive	iona	iona
dative	ionu	ionima
accusative	ion	ione
vocative	ionu	ioni
locative	ionu	ionima
instrumental	ionom	ionima

References

• “ion”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026

Slovene

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἰόν (ión, “going”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ióːn/

Noun

iọ̑n m inan

1. (chemistry, physics) ion

Declension

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Masculine inan., hard o-stem
nom. sing.	iọ̑n
gen. sing.	iọ̑na
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	iọ̑n	iọ̑na	iọ̑ni
genitive (rodȋlnik)	iọ̑na	iọ̑nov	iọ̑nov
dative (dajȃlnik)	iọ̑nu	iọ̑noma	iọ̑nom
accusative (tožȋlnik)	iọ̑n	iọ̑na	iọ̑ne
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	iọ̑nu	iọ̑nih	iọ̑nih
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	iọ̑nom	iọ̑noma	iọ̑ni

References

• “ion”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
• “ion”, in Termania, Amebis
• See also the general references

Spanish

Alternative forms

• ión (pre-2010)

Etymology

Borrowed from English ion, from Ancient Greek ἰόν (ión).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈʝon/ [ˈɟ͡ʝõn]

• IPA^(key): /ˈʝon/ [ˈɟ͡ʝõn] (everywhere but Pampas and southern Argentina and Uruguay)
• IPA^(key): /ˈjon/ [ˈjõn] (Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)

• • Rhymes: -on
• IPA^(key): /iˈon/ [iˈõn]
  • Rhymes: -on
• Syllabification: ion

Noun

ion m (plural iones)

1. ion (atom or group of atoms bearing an electrical charge)

Further reading

• “ion”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Vietnamese

Etymology

From French ion, from English ion.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔi˧˧ ʔɔn˧˧], [ʔi˧˧ ʔəwŋ͡m˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɪj˧˧ ʔɔŋ˧˧], [ʔɪj˧˧ ʔəwŋ͡m˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔɪj˧˧ ʔɔŋ˧˧], [ʔɪj˧˧ ʔəwŋ͡m˧˧]
• Phonetic spelling: i on, i ông

Noun

ion

1. an ion

See also

• ion hoá