dilation

From dilate +‎ -ion, late 16th c.

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /daɪˈleɪʃən/

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• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

dilation (countable and uncountable, plural dilations)

1. The act of dilating.
2. State of being dilated; expansion; dilatation.

   Synonyms: expansion, dilatation

3. (obsolete) Delay.

   Synonyms: cunctation, hold-up; see also Thesaurus:delay

   • 1612–1626, [Joseph Hall], “(please specify the page)”, in [Contemplations vpon the Principall Passages of the Holy Storie], volumes (please specify |volume=II, V, or VI), London, →OCLC:

     The wise queen, however she might seem to have a fair opportunity offered to her suit, finds it not good to apprehend it too suddenly; as desiring by this small dilation to prepare the ear and heart of the king for so important a request

4. (mathematics) In morphology, a basic operation (denoted ⊕) that usually uses a structuring element for probing and expanding the shapes contained in the input image.

• dial into, dilatino, laid into

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dilation f (plural dilations)

1. dilation

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

Borrowed from Latin dīlātiō.

dilation oblique singular, f (oblique plural dilations, nominative singular dilation, nominative plural dilations)

1. dissemination; spreading (of rumors, stories, etc.)