constellation
/ˌkɒn.stəˈleɪ.ʃən/
"constellation" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“constellation” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #17,805 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #17,805
- frequency rank, English
- 13
- letters
- 19
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An arbitrary formation of stars perceived as a figure (especially one from mythology) or pattern, or a division of the sky including it, especially one officially recognized by astronomers; an aste...
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 | constellation |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌkɒn.stəˈleɪ.ʃən/ |
| Letters | 13 |
| Frequency rank | #17,805 |
| Misspellings tracked | 19 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “constellation” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for constellation is 13 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌkɒn.stəˈleɪ.ʃən/. Corpus data places it at rank #17,805 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 10 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 constellation, with forms such as "cconstellation", "cnostellation", and "connstellation". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "consternation", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *ḱóm From Middle English constellacioun, constillacioun (“(astrology) position of the moon or a planet in relation to the ascendant sign of the zodiac; horoscope; (astronomy) formation of fixed stars, constellation; (astronomy) elevation or positi… The correct English form is constellation, spelled C-O-N-S-T-E-L-L-A-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1An arbitrary formation of stars perceived as a figure (especially one from mythology) or pattern, or a division of the sky including it, especially one officially recognized by astronomers; an asterism.
- 2An arbitrary formation of stars perceived as a figure (especially one from mythology) or pattern, or a division of the sky including it, especially one officially recognized by astronomers; an asterism.
- 3A configuration or grouping of related things.
- 4A configuration or grouping of related things.
- 5A configuration or grouping of related things.
- 6A configuration or grouping of related things.
- 7A configuration or grouping of related things.
- 8A configuration or grouping of related things.
- 9The configuration of planets at a given time (especially a person's birth), as believed to affect events on Earth, or used for determining a horoscope.
- 10A person's character or inclinations, supposedly determined by their horoscope.
Etymology
PIE word *ḱóm From Middle English constellacioun, constillacioun (“(astrology) position of the moon or a planet in relation to the ascendant sign of the zodiac; horoscope; (astronomy) formation of fixed stars, constellation; (astronomy) elevation or position of the sun”) [and other forms], borrowed from Old French constellation (modern French constellation), or directly from its etymon Late Latin cōnstēllātiōnem, the accusative singular of cōnstēllātiō (“collection of stars supposed to exert an influence upon human affairs, constellation”), from Latin con- (prefix denoting a bringing together of several objects) + stēlla (“star; meteor; planet”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr (“star”)) + -ātiō (suffix forming nouns).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: cconstellation,cnostellation,connstellation,consetllation,consstellation,constelaltion,constelation,constellaiton,constellasion,constellatino,constellationn,constellatoin,constellattion,constelltaion,constlelation,consttellation,contsellation,cosntellation,ocnstellation
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of constellation - 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
How do you spell "constellation"?
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Using “constellation”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-O-N-S-T-E-L-L-A-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌkɒn.stəˈleɪ.ʃən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “consternation” - see the side-by-side comparison. constellation vs consternation
- 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.