communication

/kəˌmjuː.nɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/

//kəˌmjuː.nɪˈkeɪ.ʃən// noun

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

"communication" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“communication” has 18 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,103. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,103
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
18
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The act or fact of communicating anything; transmission.

Corpus desk

Index EN-communication · communication · English

communication · rank #2,103 · 18 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,103
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 18 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH combined

Nearest frequency peer: combined (-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 “communication”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “communication” 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).

communication vs communicator
85% similar
communication vs communicative
85% similar
communication vs communications
93% similar

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

Key facts for communication
PropertyValue
Headwordcommunication
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kəˌmjuː.nɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/
Letters13
Frequency rank#2,103
Misspellings tracked18
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “communication”

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).communicationlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “combined” (#2,102), “connected” (#2,104), “charges” (#2,101). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “communication” is #2,103. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 18 spelling variants around communication (IPA /kəˌmjuː.nɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,103 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 18 likely wrong-spelling variants for communication, with forms such as "ccommunication", "cmomunication", and "commnuication". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "communicator", "communicative", "communications", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English comunicacioun, communicacion (“discussion, association”), from Old French communicacion, from Latin commūnicātiōnem, accusative singular of commūnicātiō (“imparting, communicating”), from commūnicō (“to share, to impart”). Morp… The correct English form is communication, spelled C-O-M-M-U-N-I-C-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act or fact of communicating anything; transmission.
  2. 2
    The concept or state of exchanging data or information between entities.
  3. 3
    A message; the essential data transferred in an act of communication.
  4. 4
    The body of all data transferred to one or both parties during an act of communication.
  5. 5
    An instance of information transfer; a conversation or discourse.
  6. 6
    A passageway or opening between two locations; connection.
  7. 7
    A connection between two tissues, organs, or cavities.
  8. 8
    Association; company.
  9. 9
    Participation in Holy Communion.
  10. 10
    A trope by which a speaker assumes that his hearer is a partner in his sentiments, and says "we" instead of "I" or "you".

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. communication of smallpox
  2. communication of a secret

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English comunicacioun, communicacion (“discussion, association”), from Old French communicacion, from Latin commūnicātiōnem, accusative singular of commūnicātiō (“imparting, communicating”), from commūnicō (“to share, to impart”). Morphologically communicate + -ion.

Antonyms

anticommunication

This word in other languages

comunicación(Español)communication(Français)Kommunikation(Deutsch)comunicação(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccommunication
  • cmomunication
  • commnuication
  • commuincation
  • communciation
  • communiaction
  • communicaiton
  • communicasion
  • communicatino
  • communicationn
  • communicatoin
  • communicattion
  • communiccation
  • communictaion
  • communnication
  • comumnication
  • comunication
  • ocmmunication

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of communication - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ccommunication1cmomunication2commnuication2commuincation2communciation2communiaction2communicaiton2communicasion1
Edit distance from "communication"

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 "communication"?
"communication" is spelled C-O-M-M-U-N-I-C-A-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /kəˌmjuː.nɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/.
What does "communication" mean?
As a noun, "communication" means: The act or fact of communicating anything; transmission.
What words are commonly confused with "communication"?
"communication" is commonly confused with "communicator", "communicative", "communications". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "communication"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "communication" is /kəˌmjuː.nɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/. 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 "communication"?
Inherited from Middle English comunicacioun, communicacion (“discussion, association”), from Old French communicacion, from Latin commūnicātiōnem, accusative singular of commūnicātiō (“imparting, communicating”), from commūnicō (“to share, to impa... 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 "communication", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 13 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

environmental#2,040organizations#2,169approximately#2,281investigation#1,831

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (18 here; floor ≥5).

comfortable18 variantsrequirements18 variantsdescription18 variantsconservative18 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list