Ingestion is the act or process of taking substances into the body, typically through the mouth, by swallowing or absorption through the digestive tract. It is often used in medical or scientific contexts to describe the intake of food, liquids, or medications. The term also appears in discussions of digestion, metabolism, and toxicology as a formal descriptor of intake. (2-4 sentences, 50-80 words)
"The patient announced the ingestion of the prescribed medication without incident."
"Researchers studied the ingestion rate of the experimental compound in the study’s model organisms."
"Ingestion can refer to both voluntary consumption and accidental intake in clinical settings."
"Clear labeling helps prevent accidental ingestion of hazardous chemicals in the laboratory."
Ingestion derives from the Latin ingession-, stem of ingere, meaning to lead in or to bring in, from in- (into) + gerere (to bear, carry). The suffix -tion marks a noun of action. The term appears in English medical and pharmacological literature in the 17th–18th centuries as Latinized medical vocabulary spread through European science. Earlier pharmacological texts used ingere- forms like ingestus and inGessus, but the modern noun ingestion stabilised in late Renaissance and early modern medicine, aligning with other process-oriented terms such as digestion and ingestion. Over time, ingestion broadened from strictly “mouth-to-stomach entry” to include any active process of internal intake, including experimental administration routes. The word’s usage remains tightly linked to biology, toxicology, food science, and clinical contexts, often contrasted with digestion, absorption, and excretion in physiological discussions.
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Words that rhyme with "Ingestion"
-ing sounds
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Ingestion is pronounced in-ˈdʒes-tʃən in US and UK. The primary stress falls on the second syllable, with a soft ‘j’ sound as in the “j” of judge for the /dʒ/ blend. The final -tion is /tʃən/ similar to “shun.” Pay attention to the diphthong in the first syllable: /ɪ/ is a short, high-front vowel. For audio reference, you can listen to pronunciation examples on Pronounce or Forvo, focusing on the /ɪn/ + /ˈdʒes/ + /tʃən/ segmentation.
Common mistakes: (1) Slurring the /dʒ/ into a simple /d/ or /j/ sound, producing in-jes-tion; (2) misplacing stress on the first syllable as in-‘GIN-tion’ instead of in-ˈdʒes-tion; (3) pronouncing the final -tion as /ən/ instead of /tʃən/. Correction tips: isolate /dʒ/ as a single sound, stress the second syllable clearly, and practice the ending as /tʃən/ by opening your mouth for the /t/ then curling the tongue for /ʃ/ into /ən/; record yourself and compare to native models.
US: /ɪnˈdʒɛstʃən/ with a clear /ɛ/ in the second syllable and rhotic influence minimal in the final syllable. UK: /ɪnˈdʒeɪstʃən/ may feature a longer /eɪ/ diphthong in the second syllable and a lighter /tʃən/ ending. AU: /ɪnˈdʒɛstʃən/ similar to US but with broader vowel quality and sometimes more clipped vowels in rapid speech. The rhotics are generally non-rhotic in UK and AU; US retains /r/ only in other words, not in ingestion. Focus on the /dʒ/ and /tʃ/ clusters, and the vowel in the second syllable.
The difficulty stems from consecutive consonant clusters /ndʒ/ and /tʃ/ after a front vowel, which can cause assimilation or running them together. The sequence /ˌdʒe/ requires precise tongue placement: the tip near the alveolar ridge, blade raised toward the palate for the /dʒ/; then quickly move to /tʃ/ with a brief alveolar release and a post-alveolar tongue position. Stress on the second syllable also challenges learners who default to stressing the first syllable. Practice the transition slow, then accelerate with controlled timing.
Ingestion uniquely features the /dʒ/ sound after the initial /n/ and the /tʃ/ sound in the final syllable; ensure you keep a clean, distinct separation between /dʒ/ and /tʃ/, avoiding coalescence into a single affricate. The second syllable carries the main vowel shift from /ɛ/ to /eɪ/ in many accents, so listen for the subtle vowel quality change and maintain a steady secondary stress. This helps differentiate ingestion from visually similar words like ingestion/ingestion and digestion, but note that the primary stress remains on the second syllable.
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