aberration
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
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10 characters
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English
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "aberration", 10-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "aberration" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "aberration" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
aberration is aEnglishnoun. It means: The act of wandering; deviation from truth, moral rectitude; abnormal; divergence from the straight, correct, proper, normal, or from the natural state. Pronounced /ˌæb.əˈɹeɪ.ʃn̩/.
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Browse all word comparisons →| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | aberration |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌæb.əˈɹeɪ.ʃn̩/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #29,530 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for aberration is 10 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌæb.əˈɹeɪ.ʃn̩/. Corpus data places it at rank #29,530 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 13 documented wrong-spelling variants for aberration, with forms such as "abberration", "aberartion", and "aberation". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: A learned borrowing from Latin aberrātiō(n) (“relief, diversion”), first attested in 1594, from aberrō (“wander away, go astray”), from ab (“away”) + errō (“wander”). Compare French aberration. By surface analysis, aberrat(e) + -ion. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is aberration, spelled A-B-E-R-R-A-T-I-O-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1The act of wandering; deviation from truth, moral rectitude; abnormal; divergence from the straight, correct, proper, normal, or from the natural state.
- 2The convergence to different foci, by a lens or mirror, of rays of light emanating from one and the same point, or the deviation of such rays from a single focus; a defect in a focusing mechanism that prevents the intended focal point.
- 3A small periodical change of the apparent positions of the stars and other heavenly bodies, due to the combined effect of the motion of light and the motion of the observer.
- 4A small periodical change of the apparent positions of the stars and other heavenly bodies, due to the combined effect of the motion of light and the motion of the observer.
- 5A partial alienation of reason.
- 6Any creature with supernatural powers not found in the organized classes of beings in a given setting.
- 7A mental disorder, especially one of a minor or temporary character.
- 8Atypical development or structure; deviation from the normal type; an aberrant organ.
- 9A deviation of a tissue, organ or mental functions from what is considered to be within the normal range.
- 10A defect in an image produced by an optical or electrostatic lens system.
Etymology
A learned borrowing from Latin aberrātiō(n) (“relief, diversion”), first attested in 1594, from aberrō (“wander away, go astray”), from ab (“away”) + errō (“wander”). Compare French aberration. By surface analysis, aberrat(e) + -ion.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: abberration,aberartion,aberation,aberraiton,aberrasion,aberratino,aberrationn,aberratoin,aberrattion,aberrtaion,abreration,aebrration,baerration
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for aberration
Misspelling Variants of "aberration"
Frequency rank: #29,530 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter A in our English index: