# altercation

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˌɔːltəˈkeɪʃn̩/ · frequency rank #24,650

## Definitions
1. An angry or heated dispute.
2. An act of posing questions to, and obtaining answers from, a witness in a court of law.
3. Angry or heated disputation.

## Etymology
Borrowed from Latin altercātiō.
Cognates
* Catalan altercació
* Italian altercazione
* Occitan altercatio, altercassion
* Portuguese altercação
* Spanish altercación

## Easily confused with
- **alteration** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alteration-vs-altercation)

## Common misspellings (17)
`aletrcation`, `alltercation`, `altecration`, `alteraction`, `altercaiton`, `altercasion`, `altercatino`, `altercationn`, `altercatoin`, `altercattion`, `alterccation`, `alterctaion`, `alterrcation`, `altrecation`, `alttercation`, `atlercation`, `latercation`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/altercation