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apology

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

7 characters

Language

English

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "apology", 7-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "apology" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "apology" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

apology is aEnglishnoun. It means: An expression of remorse or regret for having said or done something that harmed another: an instance of apologizing (saying that one is sorry). Pronounced /əˈpɒl.ə.d͡ʒi/. It ranks #6,541 in English word frequency. Often confused with analogy.

Key facts for apology
PropertyValue
Headwordapology
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/əˈpɒl.ə.d͡ʒi/
Letters7
Frequency rank#6,541
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of apology in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for apology is 7 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈpɒl.ə.d͡ʒi/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,541 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 10 documented wrong-spelling variants for apology, with forms such as "aoplogy", "aploogy", and "apolgoy". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "analogy", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French apologie, from Late Latin apologia, from Ancient Greek ἀπολογία (apología, “a speech in defence”), from ἀπολογοῦμαι (apologoûmai, “I speak in my defense”), from ἀπόλογος (apólogos, “an account, story”), from ἀπό (apó, “from, off”) (see apo-) + λ… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is apology, spelled A-P-O-L-O-G-Y, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    An expression of remorse or regret for having said or done something that harmed another: an instance of apologizing (saying that one is sorry).
  2. 2
    A formal justification, defence.
  3. 3
    Anything provided as a substitute; a makeshift.

Etymology

From French apologie, from Late Latin apologia, from Ancient Greek ἀπολογία (apología, “a speech in defence”), from ἀπολογοῦμαι (apologoûmai, “I speak in my defense”), from ἀπόλογος (apólogos, “an account, story”), from ἀπό (apó, “from, off”) (see apo-) + λόγος (lógos, “speech”). Doublet of apologia. By surface analysis, apo- + -logy.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: aoplogy,aploogy,apolgoy,apollogy,apologgy,apologyy,apoloyg,apoolgy,appology,paology

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for apology

Misspelling Variants of "apology"

aoplogy7aploogy7apolgoy7apollogy8apologgy8apologyy8apoloyg7apoolgy7
Misspelling Variants of "apology"

Frequency rank: #6,541 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "apology"?
"apology" is spelled A-P-O-L-O-G-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈpɒl.ə.d͡ʒi/.
What does "apology" mean?
As a noun, "apology" means: An expression of remorse or regret for having said or done something that harmed another: an instance of apologizing (saying that one is sorry).
What words are commonly confused with "apology"?
"apology" is commonly confused with "analogy". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "apology"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "apology" is /əˈpɒl.ə.d͡ʒi/. 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 "apology"?
From French apologie, from Late Latin apologia, from Ancient Greek ἀπολογία (apología, “a speech in defence”), from ἀπολογοῦμαι (apologoûmai, “I speak in my defense”), from ἀπόλογος (apólogos, “an account, story”), from ἀπό (apó, “from, off”) (see... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter A in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.