[1895–1900, Amer.; forest + -ation]This word is first recorded in the period 1895–1900. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: apothecaries' measure, cutback, freewheel, hit-and-run, slapstick-ation is used to form nouns from stems ending in -ate (separation) and, on this model, to form nouns from stems of other origin (starvation). Other words that use the affix -ation include: plantation, polarization, reservation, sensitization, transportation