# constipation

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˌkɒnstɪˈpeɪʃən/ · frequency rank #24,710

## Definitions
1. A state of the bowels in which the evacuations are infrequent and difficult, or the intestines become filled with hardened faeces.
2. The act of crowding anything into a lesser space, or the state of being crowded or pressed together; condensation.

## Etymology
First attested in the beginning of the 15ᵗʰ century, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English constipacioun, borrowed from Medieval Latin constīpātiō or its Old French equivalent, from cōnstīpō + -tiō. By surface analysis, constipate + -ion.

## Easily confused with
- **constitution** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/constipation-vs-constitution)

## Common misspellings (19)
`cconstipation`, `cnostipation`, `connstipation`, `consitpation`, `consstipation`, `constiaption`, `constipaiton`, `constipasion`, `constipatino`, `constipationn`, `constipatoin`, `constipattion`, `constippation`, `constiptaion`, `constpiation`, `consttipation`, `contsipation`, `cosntipation`, `ocnstipation`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/constipation