adoption

/əˈdɑp.ʃən/

//əˈdɑp.ʃən// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"adoption" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“adoption” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,384. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,384
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The act of adopting.

Corpus desk

Index EN-adoption · adoption · English

adoption · rank #5,384 · 12 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,384
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH adapted

Nearest frequency peer: adapted (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “adoption”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “adoption” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

adoption vs adoptive
75% similar
adoption vs adoration
78% similar
adoption vs adsorption
80% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for adoption
PropertyValue
Headwordadoption
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/əˈdɑp.ʃən/
Letters8
Frequency rank#5,384
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “adoption”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).adoptionlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “adapted” (#5,383), “anonymous” (#5,385), “acres” (#5,382). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “adoption” is #5,384. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around adoption (IPA /əˈdɑp.ʃən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,384 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for adoption, with forms such as "addoption", "adopiton", and "adopption". 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 6 confusable-pair relationships, "adoptive", "adoration", "adsorption", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French adoption, from Latin adoptio, allied to adoptare (“to adopt”). Equivalent to adopt + -ion. The correct English form is adoption, spelled A-D-O-P-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act of adopting.
  2. 2
    The state of being adopted; the acceptance of a child of other parents as if they were one's own child.
  3. 3
    An admission to an institution, for example a hospital, clinic, mental asylum.
  4. 4
    The choosing and making that to be one's own which originally was not so; acceptance.
  5. 5
    The choosing and making that to be one's own which originally was not so; acceptance.
  6. 6
    The transfer from an old system to another (usually better) system.
  7. 7
    An act of divine grace by which the redeemed in Christ are admitted to the privileges of the sons of God.
  8. 8
    Ten consecutive wins against an opponent.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how adoption appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The project also included seeking the adoption of homosexuals as prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International, which would mean simply adding 'sexual orientation' to Article 1A of the Amnesty International mandate.
  2. A Chinese baby girl was given away for adoption.

Etymology

Borrowed from French adoption, from Latin adoptio, allied to adoptare (“to adopt”). Equivalent to adopt + -ion.

This word in other languages

adopción(Español)adoption(Français)Adoption(Deutsch)adoção(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • addoption
  • adopiton
  • adopption
  • adopsion
  • adoptino
  • adoptionn
  • adoptoin
  • adopttion
  • adotpion
  • adpotion
  • aodption
  • daoption

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of adoption - 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.

addoption1adopiton2adopption1adopsion1adoptino2adoptionn1adoptoin2adopttion1
Edit distance from "adoption"

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

How do you spell "adoption"?
"adoption" is spelled A-D-O-P-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈdɑp.ʃən/.
What does "adoption" mean?
As a noun, "adoption" means: The act of adopting.
What words are commonly confused with "adoption"?
"adoption" is commonly confused with "adoptive", "adoration", "adsorption". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "adoption"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "adoption" is /əˈdɑp.ʃən/. 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 "adoption"?
Borrowed from French adoption, from Latin adoptio, allied to adoptare (“to adopt”). Equivalent to adopt + -ion. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "adoption", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

artistic#5,388aviation#5,390tropical#5,374charging#5,397

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

Ukrainian12 variantsreserved12 variantsinvented12 variantslicensed12 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list