approbation
/ˌæp.ɹəʊˈbeɪ.ʃən/
"approbation" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“approbation” is uncommon English (frequency #66,467 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #66,467
- frequency rank, English
- 3,931
- “A” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The act of approving; an assenting to the propriety of a thing with some degree of pleasure or satisfaction; approval, sanction, commendation or official recognition.
Corpus desk
Index EN-approbation · approbation · English
approbation · rank #66,467 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #66,467
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,931
- PHOTO-FINISH Aoyama
Nearest frequency peer: Aoyama (-1 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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “approbation”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- amortized
amortized
33,540 corpus weight
- Aoyama
Aoyama
33,535 corpus weight
- approbation
approbation
33,534 corpus weight
- arcadian
arcadian
33,533 corpus weight
- archaea
archaea
33,532 corpus weight
- ARPA
ARPA
33,530 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “approbation” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | approbation |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌæp.ɹəʊˈbeɪ.ʃən/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #66,467 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “approbation” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
approbation is uncommon English at frequency #66,467 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌæp.ɹəʊˈbeɪ.ʃən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The act of approving; an assenting to the propriety of a thing with some degree of pleasure or satisfaction; approval, sanction, commendation or official recognition.".
Zero misspellings are on record for approbation in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From late Middle English approbacioun, from Old French approbacion (French approbation), from Latin approbatio, from approbare (“to assent to as good, approve, also show to be good, confirm”), from ad (“to”) + probare (“approve, commend”), from probus (“goo… The correct English form is approbation, spelled A-P-P-R-O-B-A-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1The act of approving; an assenting to the propriety of a thing with some degree of pleasure or satisfaction; approval, sanction, commendation or official recognition.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how approbation appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I am very sensible how much nobler it is to place the reward of virtue in the silent approbation of one's own breast
As a counsellor she was not wanted; but as an approver, (a much safer character,) she was truly welcome. Her approbation, at once general and minute, warm and incessant, could not but please; and for another half-hour they were all walking to and fro, between the different rooms, some suggesting, some attending, and all in happy enjoyment of the future.
Etymology
From late Middle English approbacioun, from Old French approbacion (French approbation), from Latin approbatio, from approbare (“to assent to as good, approve, also show to be good, confirm”), from ad (“to”) + probare (“approve, commend”), from probus (“good”).
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "approbation", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
What to do next
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- Usage frequency rank #66,467 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
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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.