ignition

noun

1. the act or fact of igniting; state of being ignited.
2. a means or device for igniting.
3. (in an internal-combustion engine) the process that ignites the fuel in the cylinder.

noun

1. the act or process of initiating combustion
2. the process of igniting the fuel in an internal-combustion engine
3. the ignition the devices used to ignite the fuel in an internal-combustion engine

n.

1610s, “act of heating to the point of combustion,” from French ignition (16c.) or directly from Medieval Latin ignitionem (nominative ignitio), from Latin ignire “set on fire,” from ignis “fire” (see igneous). Meaning “means of sparking an internal combustion engine” is from 1881.