alternation

/ˈɒl.tə(ɹ)ˌneɪ.ʃən/

//ˈɒl.tə(ɹ)ˌneɪ.ʃən// noun

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

"alternation" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“alternation” is uncommon English (frequency #50,929 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#50,929
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The reciprocal succession of (normally two) things in time or place; the act of following and being followed by turns; alternate succession, performance, or occurrence

Corpus desk

Index EN-alternation · alternation · English

alternation · rank #50,929 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #50,929
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH Alix

Nearest frequency peer: Alix (-2 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.

Long-tail ranks near “alternation”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “alternation” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for alternation
PropertyValue
Headwordalternation
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɒl.tə(ɹ)ˌneɪ.ʃən/
Letters11
Frequency rank#50,929
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “alternation” in English

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).alternationfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Alix” (#50,927), “Ambedkar” (#50,931), “Alissa” (#50,926). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “alternation” is #50,929. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

alternation is uncommon English at frequency #50,929 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɒl.tə(ɹ)ˌneɪ.ʃən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 9 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for alternation, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Latin alternatio; compare French alternation. By surface analysis, alternate + -ion. The correct English form is alternation, spelled A-L-T-E-R-N-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    The reciprocal succession of (normally two) things in time or place; the act of following and being followed by turns; alternate succession, performance, or occurrence
  2. 2
    The response of the congregation speaking alternately with the minister.
  3. 3
    Ablaut.
  4. 4
    A pattern by which more than one construct is possible, as with "Alice cooked Bob dinner" and "Alice cooked dinner for Bob".
  5. 5
    The "inclusive or" truth function.
  6. 6
    A sequence that alternates between positive and negative values.
  7. 7
    A permutation.
  8. 8
    A construct in a regular expression that can match any of several specified subexpressions.
  9. 9
    A type of partial truncation of a polygon, polyhedron or tiling in which alternate vertices are removed.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. the alternation of day and night
  2. alternation of summer and winter

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin alternatio; compare French alternation. By surface analysis, alternate + -ion.

This word in other languages

alternancia(Español)alternance(Français)alternância(Português)

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 "alternation"?
"alternation" is spelled A-L-T-E-R-N-A-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɒl.tə(ɹ)ˌneɪ.ʃən/.
What does "alternation" mean?
As a noun, "alternation" means: The reciprocal succession of (normally two) things in time or place; the act of following and being followed by turns; alternate succession, performance, or occurrence
How do you pronounce "alternation"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "alternation" is /ˈɒl.tə(ɹ)ˌneɪ.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 "alternation"?
Learned borrowing from Latin alternatio; compare French alternation. By surface analysis, alternate + -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 "alternation", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

anachronism#50,933unabashedly#50,866Trinidadian#50,855coffeehouse#51,025

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list