Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell stationary

Stationary is spelled S-T-A-T-I-O-N-A-R-Y.

hear itsta·tion·ar·y/'steɪʃə,nɛri/adjectiveSchwa and roots

What it means: Staying in one place and not moving.

In a sentence: The bike in the park is stationary and doesn't move.

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear.

Not to be confused with: stationery, a different word.

Same family: stationery, stationed, stationary-bike, standstill, immobile. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: Stationary comes from the Latin word 'stationarius', meaning 'belonging to a station' or 'standing still'. It is often confused with 'stationery' (with an 'e'), which originally referred to writing materials sold by a 'stationer'—a bookseller who had a fixed stall.

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