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accordion

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

9 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "accordion", 9-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 "accordion" 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 "accordion" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

accordion is aEnglishnoun. It means: A box-shaped musical instrument played by compressing or expanding its bellows while pressing its buttons or its keys, causing pallets to open, which allow air to flow across strips of brass or ste... Pronounced /əˈkɔ(ɹ).diˌən/. Often confused with according.

Key facts for accordion
PropertyValue
Headwordaccordion
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/əˈkɔ(ɹ).diˌən/
Letters9
Frequency rank#25,649
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of accordion in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for accordion is 9 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈkɔ(ɹ).diˌən/. Corpus data places it at rank #25,649 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 11 documented wrong-spelling variants for accordion, with forms such as "accodrion", "accorddion", and "accordino". 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 also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "according", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: First attested in 1831. From German Akkordeon, from Akkord (“harmony”), from French accord, from Old French acorder, based on Italian accordare (“to tune”). See also accord. 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 accordion, spelled A-C-C-O-R-D-I-O-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A box-shaped musical instrument played by compressing or expanding its bellows while pressing its buttons or its keys, causing pallets to open, which allow air to flow across strips of brass or steel (reeds).
  2. 2
    A vertical list of items that can be individually expanded and collapsed to reveal their contents.
  3. 3
    Something, or set of things (concepts, etc), which can be expanded (or extended) and collapsed, like the musical instrument's pleated, folding bellows.

Etymology

First attested in 1831. From German Akkordeon, from Akkord (“harmony”), from French accord, from Old French acorder, based on Italian accordare (“to tune”). See also accord.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: accodrion,accorddion,accordino,accordionn,accordoin,accoridon,accorrdion,accrodion,acocrdion,acordion,cacordion

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for accordion

Misspelling Variants of "accordion"

accodrion9accorddion10accordino9accordionn10accordoin9accoridon9accorrdion10accrodion9
Misspelling Variants of "accordion"

Frequency rank: #25,649 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "accordion"?
"accordion" is spelled A-C-C-O-R-D-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈkɔ(ɹ).diˌən/.
What does "accordion" mean?
As a noun, "accordion" means: A box-shaped musical instrument played by compressing or expanding its bellows while pressing its buttons or its keys, causing pallets to open, which allow air to flow across strips of brass or ste...
What words are commonly confused with "accordion"?
"accordion" is commonly confused with "according". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "accordion"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "accordion" is /əˈkɔ(ɹ).diˌən/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "accordion"?
First attested in 1831. From German Akkordeon, from Akkord (“harmony”), from French accord, from Old French acorder, based on Italian accordare (“to tune”). See also accord. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter A in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.