application
/ˌæp.lᵻˈkeɪ.ʃən/
"application" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“application” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,446 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #1,446
- frequency rank, English
- 11
- letters
- 15
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The act of physically applying or laying on.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | application |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌæp.lᵻˈkeɪ.ʃən/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #1,446 |
| Misspellings tracked | 15 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “application” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for application is 11 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌæp.lᵻˈkeɪ.ʃən/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,446 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 12 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for application, with forms such as "aplication", "aplpication", and "appilcation". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "applicator", "applications", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Proto-Indo-European *pel- Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ-der. Latin plicō Latin applicō Proto-Indo-European *-tisder. Proto-Italic *-tjō Latin -tiō Latin applicātiōbor. Old Fre… The correct English form is application, spelled A-P-P-L-I-C-A-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1The act of physically applying or laying on.
- 2The substance applied.
- 3The act of applying as a means; the employment of means to accomplish an end; specific use.
- 4The act of directing or referring something to a particular case, to discover or illustrate agreement or disagreement, fitness, or correspondence.
- 5A computer program or the set of software that the end user perceives as a single entity as a tool for a well-defined purpose. (Also called: application program; application software.)
- 6A verbal or written request for assistance or employment or admission to a school, course or similar.
- 7A petition, entreaty, or other request, with the adposition for denoting the subject matter.
- 8The act of requesting, claiming, or petitioning something.
- 9Diligence; close thought or attention.
- 10A kind of needlework; appliqué.
- 11The substitution of a specific value for the parameter in the abstraction, in lambda calculus.
- 12Compliance.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Proto-Indo-European *pel- Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ-der. Latin plicō Latin applicō Proto-Indo-European *-tisder. Proto-Italic *-tjō Latin -tiō Latin applicātiōbor. Old French aplicacionbor. Middle English applicacioun English application From Late Middle English applicacioun, borrowed from Old French aplicacion (French application), from Latin applicātiōnem, accusative singular of applicātiō (“attachment; application, inclination”), from applicō (“join to, attach; apply”). Equivalent to apply + -ication.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aplication,aplpication,appilcation,applciation,appliaction,applicaiton,applicasion,applicatino,applicationn,applicatoin,applicattion,appliccation,applictaion,appllication,paplication
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of application - 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.
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 "application"?
What does "application" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "application"?
How do you pronounce "application"?
What is the origin of the word "application"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “application”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-P-P-L-I-C-A-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌæp.lᵻˈkeɪ.ʃən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “applicator” - see the side-by-side comparison. application vs applicator
- 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.