congregation
/ˌkɒŋɡɹɪˈɡeɪʃən/
"congregation" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“congregation” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #9,308 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #9,308
- frequency rank, English
- 12
- letters
- 19
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The act of congregating or collecting together.
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 | congregation |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌkɒŋɡɹɪˈɡeɪʃən/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Frequency rank | #9,308 |
| Misspellings tracked | 19 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “congregation” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for congregation is 12 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌkɒŋɡɹɪˈɡeɪʃən/. Corpus data places it at rank #9,308 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 19 likely wrong-spelling variants for congregation, with forms such as "ccongregation", "cnogregation", and "cognregation". 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, "congregational", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English congregacioun, from Old French congregacion, from Latin congregātiō, itself from congregō (“to herd into a flock”). Adopted (1520s) by the English Bible translator William Tyndale, to render the Ancient Greek ἐκκλησία (ekklēsía, “those c… The correct English form is congregation, spelled C-O-N-G-R-E-G-A-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1The act of congregating or collecting together.
- 2A gathering of faithful in a temple, church, synagogue, mosque or other place of worship. It can also refer to the people who are present at a devotional service in the building, particularly in contrast to the pastor, minister, imam, rabbi etc. and/or choir, who may be seated apart from the general congregation or lead the service (notably in responsory form).
- 3A Roman Congregation, a main department of the Vatican administration of the Catholic Church.
- 4A corporate body whose members gather for worship, or the members of such a body.
- 5Any large gathering of people.
- 6A flock of various birds, such as plovers or eagles.
- 7The main body of university staff, comprising academics, administrative staff, heads of colleges, etc.
Etymology
From Middle English congregacioun, from Old French congregacion, from Latin congregātiō, itself from congregō (“to herd into a flock”). Adopted (1520s) by the English Bible translator William Tyndale, to render the Ancient Greek ἐκκλησία (ekklēsía, “those called together, (popular) meeting”) (hence Latin ecclēsia) in his New Testament, and preferred by 16th century Reformers instead of church. By surface analysis, congregate + -ion.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccongregation,cnogregation,cognregation,congergation,conggregation,congreagtion,congregaiton,congregasion,congregatino,congregationn,congregatoin,congregattion,congreggation,congregtaion,congrgeation,congrregation,conngregation,conrgegation,ocngregation
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of congregation - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "congregation"?
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Using “congregation”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-O-N-G-R-E-G-A-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌkɒŋɡɹɪˈɡeɪʃən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “congregational” - see the side-by-side comparison. congregation vs congregational
- 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.