abduction
/əbˈdʌk.ʃn̩/
"abduction" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“abduction” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #16,396 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #16,396
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 14
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Leading away; a carrying away.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | abduction |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /əbˈdʌk.ʃn̩/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #16,396 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “abduction” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for abduction is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əbˈdʌk.ʃn̩/. Corpus data places it at rank #16,396 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for abduction, with forms such as "abbduction", "abdcution", and "abdduction". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "auction", "addiction", "abductions", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin abductiō(n) (“robbing; abduction”), from abdūcō (“take or lead away”), from ab (“away”) + dūcō (“to lead”). By surface analysis, abduct + -ion or abduce + -tion. * (physiology): From French, from Latin abductus. * Compare French abduction. The correct English form is abduction, spelled A-B-D-U-C-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1Leading away; a carrying away.
- 2The act of abducing or abducting; a drawing apart; the movement which separates a limb or other part from the axis, or middle line, of the body.
- 3A syllogism or form of argument in which the major premise is evident, but the minor is only probable.
- 4The wrongful, and usually forcible, carrying off of a human being.
- 5Alien abduction.
Etymology
From Latin abductiō(n) (“robbing; abduction”), from abdūcō (“take or lead away”), from ab (“away”) + dūcō (“to lead”). By surface analysis, abduct + -ion or abduce + -tion. * (physiology): From French, from Latin abductus. * Compare French abduction.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: abbduction,abdcution,abdduction,abducction,abduciton,abducsion,abductino,abductionn,abductoin,abducttion,abdutcion,abudction,adbuction,baduction
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of abduction - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “abduction”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-B-D-U-C-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əbˈdʌk.ʃn̩/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “auction” - see the side-by-side comparison. abduction vs auction
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.