alkylation

noun

"alkylation" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“alkylation” is an uncommon English word, ranked #90,125 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#90,125
frequency rank, English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any reaction in which an alkyl group is added to a molecule; used in the production of high-octane petroleum fuels.

Key facts for alkylation
PropertyValue
Headwordalkylation
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Frequency rank#90,125
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “alkylation” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). alkylation lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for alkylation is 10 letters long, classified as a noun. Corpus data places it at rank #90,125 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Any reaction in which an alkyl group is added to a molecule; used in the production of high-octane petroleum fuels.".

alkylation has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From alkyl + -ation. The correct English form is alkylation, spelled A-L-K-Y-L-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any reaction in which an alkyl group is added to a molecule; used in the production of high-octane petroleum fuels.

Etymology

From alkyl + -ation.

This word in other languages

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 "alkylation"?
"alkylation" is spelled A-L-K-Y-L-A-T-I-O-N.
What does "alkylation" mean?
As a noun, "alkylation" means: Any reaction in which an alkyl group is added to a molecule; used in the production of high-octane petroleum fuels.
What is the origin of the word "alkylation"?
From alkyl + -ation. 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.

Using “alkylation”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is A-L-K-Y-L-A-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list