cessation
/sɛˈseɪʃən/
"cessation" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cessation” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #20,875 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #20,875
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A ceasing or discontinuance, for example of an action, whether temporary or final.
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 | cessation |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /sɛˈseɪʃən/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #20,875 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cessation” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for cessation is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /sɛˈseɪʃən/. Corpus data places it at rank #20,875 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A ceasing or discontinuance, for example of an action, whether temporary or final.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for cessation, with forms such as "ccessation", "cesastion", and "cesation". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "causation", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French cessation, itself a borrowing from Latin cessātiō. By surface analysis, cease + -ation. Compare cession < cede. The correct English form is cessation, spelled C-E-S-S-A-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1A ceasing or discontinuance, for example of an action, whether temporary or final.
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French cessation, itself a borrowing from Latin cessātiō. By surface analysis, cease + -ation. Compare cession < cede.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccessation,cesastion,cesation,cessaiton,cessasion,cessatino,cessationn,cessatoin,cessattion,cesstaion,csesation,ecssation
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cessation - 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
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Using “cessation”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-E-S-S-A-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /sɛˈseɪʃən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “causation” - see the side-by-side comparison. cessation vs causation
- 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.