addition
/əˈdɪʃ.ən/
"addition" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“addition” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,037 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #1,037
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 9
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The act of adding anything.
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 | addition |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /əˈdɪʃ.ən/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #1,037 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 9 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “addition” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for addition is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈdɪʃ.ən/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,037 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for addition, with forms such as "addiiton", "addision", and "additino". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 9 confusable-pair relationships, "adoption", "ambition", "audition", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁tder. Proto-Italic *-ðō Latin -dō Latin addō Latin additiōder. Old French aditionder. Middle English addicioun Englis… The correct English form is addition, spelled A-D-D-I-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1The act of adding anything.
- 2Anything that is added.
- 3The arithmetic operation of adding.
- 4A dot at the right side of a note as an indication that its sound is to be lengthened one half.
- 5A title annexed to a person's name to identify him or her more precisely.
- 6Something added to a coat of arms, as a mark of honour.
- 7an organic reaction where two or more molecules combine to form a larger one (the adduct).
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁tder. Proto-Italic *-ðō Latin -dō Latin addō Latin additiōder. Old French aditionder. Middle English addicioun English addition Sense of “what is added” dates from 14th century, from Middle English addicioun, addition, from Old French adition, from Latin additiōnem, accusative singular of additiō, from addō (“add, put”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: addiiton,addision,additino,additionn,additoin,addittion,addtiion,adidtion,adition,dadition
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of addition - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “addition”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-D-D-I-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əˈdɪʃ.ən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “adoption” - see the side-by-side comparison. addition vs adoption
- 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.