cohesion

/kəʊˈhiː.ʒən/

//kəʊˈhiː.ʒən// noun

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

"cohesion" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cohesion” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #20,065. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#20,065
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - State of cohering, or of working together.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cohesion · cohesion · English

cohesion · rank #20,065 · 12 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #20,065
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH clogged

Nearest frequency peer: clogged (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “cohesion”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “cohesion” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

cohesion vs cohesive
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for cohesion
PropertyValue
Headwordcohesion
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kəʊˈhiː.ʒən/
Letters8
Frequency rank#20,065
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “cohesion”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).cohesionlands here:

#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. Same rarity band neighbours include “clogged” (#20,064), “colo” (#20,066), “compel” (#20,067). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cohesion” is #20,065. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around cohesion (IPA /kəʊˈhiː.ʒən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #20,065 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for cohesion, with forms such as "ccohesion", "choesion", and "coehsion". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "cohesive", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Attested from the late 17th century, borrowed from French cohésion, from Latin cohaesiō, cohaesiōnem. The correct English form is cohesion, spelled C-O-H-E-S-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    State of cohering, or of working together.
  2. 2
    Various intermolecular forces that hold solids and liquids together.
  3. 3
    Growing together of normally distinct parts of a plant.
  4. 4
    Degree to which functionally related elements in a system belong together.
  5. 5
    Grammatical or lexical relationship between different parts of the same text.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how cohesion appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Unit cohesion is important in the military.
  2. For divers reasons, the capitalist class lacks this cohesion or solidarity, chief among which is the optimism bred of past success. And, again, the capitalist class is divided; it has within itself a class struggle of no mean proportions, which tends to irritate and harass it and to confuse the situation.

Etymology

Attested from the late 17th century, borrowed from French cohésion, from Latin cohaesiō, cohaesiōnem.

Antonyms

adhesion

This word in other languages

cohesión(Español)cohésion(Français)Zusammenhalt(Deutsch)coesão(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccohesion
  • choesion
  • coehsion
  • coheison
  • cohesino
  • cohesionn
  • cohesoin
  • cohession
  • cohetion
  • cohhesion
  • cohseion
  • ochesion

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cohesion - 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.

ccohesion1choesion2coehsion2coheison2cohesino2cohesionn1cohesoin2cohession1
Edit distance from "cohesion"

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 "cohesion"?
"cohesion" is spelled C-O-H-E-S-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /kəʊˈhiː.ʒən/.
What does "cohesion" mean?
As a noun, "cohesion" means: State of cohering, or of working together.
What words are commonly confused with "cohesion"?
"cohesion" is commonly confused with "cohesive". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "cohesion"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cohesion" is /kəʊˈhiː.ʒən/. 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 "cohesion"?
Attested from the late 17th century, borrowed from French cohésion, from Latin cohaesiō, cohaesiōnem. 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 "cohesion", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

conveyor#20,074boasting#20,049assorted#20,040archival#20,035

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

Ethernet12 variantswreckage12 variantseyesight12 variantswearable12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list