biodegradation

noun

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

"biodegradation" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“biodegradation” is uncommon English (frequency #87,076 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#87,076
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The decomposition of any material by microorganisms.

Corpus desk

Index EN-biodegradation · biodegradation · English

biodegradation · rank #87,076 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #87,076
  • LEN-MEGA 14 letters
  • VOW-7 7 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bilk

Nearest frequency peer: bilk (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “biodegradation”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for biodegradation
PropertyValue
Headwordbiodegradation
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters14
Frequency rank#87,076
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “biodegradation” 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).biodegradationfalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “bilk” (#87,075), “bipod” (#87,077), “bigge” (#87,074). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “biodegradation” is #87,076. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

biodegradation is uncommon English at frequency #87,076 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The decomposition of any material by microorganisms.".

biodegradation has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From bio- + degradation. The correct English form is biodegradation, spelled B-I-O-D-E-G-R-A-D-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    The decomposition of any material by microorganisms.

Etymology

From bio- + degradation.

This word in other languages

biodegradación(Español)biodégradation(Français)

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 "biodegradation"?
"biodegradation" is spelled B-I-O-D-E-G-R-A-D-A-T-I-O-N.
What does "biodegradation" mean?
As a noun, "biodegradation" means: The decomposition of any material by microorganisms.
What is the origin of the word "biodegradation"?
From bio- + degradation. 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 "biodegradation", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 14 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

civilizational#87,143rheumatologist#86,697neurocognitive#86,564nondestructive#87,612

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list