[1590–1600; ‹ L dēlīrātiōn- (s. of dēlīrātiō) folly, equiv. to dēlīr(āre) to be silly, lit., go out of the furrow (dē- de- + līr(a) furrow + -āre inf. ending) + -ātiōn- -ation]This word is first recorded in the period 1590–1600. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: class, jolt, mission, tea, volunteer-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: capitalization, concentration, plantation, polymerization, reservation