Etymology

-tion

Today it means: Used to form nouns meaning "the action of (a verb)" or "the result of (a verb)". Words ending in this suffix are almost always derived from a similar Latin word; a few (e.g. gumption) are not derived from Latin and are unrelated to any verb. More often, -ation is used. Full definition →

Middle English -cioun ← Old French -tion ← Latin -tiō
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited from-cioun
  2. Latin · derived from-tiō
  3. Old French · derived from-tion
  4. Middle English · inherited from-cioun
  5. English today-tion

From rebracketed Middle English -cioun, rebracketed borrowing of Old French -tion, -cion, borrowed from the stem of Latin -tiō. The Middle English -cioun became -tion in Modern English under the influence of the Middle French -tion and original Latin spellings. Always -ate or t-final/te-final base + -ion.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.