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construction

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

12 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "construction", 12-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "construction" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "construction" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

construction is aEnglishnoun. It means: The process of constructing. Pronounced /kənˈstɹʌkʃən/. It ranks #1,137 in English word frequency. Often confused with contraction and constructor.

Key facts for construction
PropertyValue
Headwordconstruction
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kənˈstɹʌkʃən/
Letters12
Frequency rank#1,137
Misspellings tracked20
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of construction in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for construction is 12 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kənˈstɹʌkʃən/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,137 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 20 documented wrong-spelling variants for construction, with forms such as "cconstruction", "cnostruction", and "connstruction". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "contraction", "constructor", "constructive", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English construccioun, construction, from Old French construction, from Latin cōnstructiō, from cōnstruere. Morphologically construct + -ion. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is construction, spelled C-O-N-S-T-R-U-C-T-I-O-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    The process of constructing.
  2. 2
    Anything that has been constructed.
  3. 3
    The trade of building structures.
  4. 4
    A building, model or some other structure.
  5. 5
    A (usually non-representational) structure, such as a collage etc.
  6. 6
    The manner in which something is built.
  7. 7
    A group of words arranged to form a meaningful phrase.
  8. 8
    The act or result of construing the meaning of something.
  9. 9
    The meaning or interpretation of a text, action etc.; the way something is viewed by an observer or onlooker.
  10. 10
    A geometric figure of arcs and line segments that is drawable with a straightedge and compass.

Etymology

From Middle English construccioun, construction, from Old French construction, from Latin cōnstructiō, from cōnstruere. Morphologically construct + -ion.

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: cconstruction,cnostruction,connstruction,consrtuction,consstruction,constrcution,constrruction,construcction,construciton,construcsion,constructino,constructionn,constructoin,constructtion,construtcion,consttruction,consturction,contsruction,cosntruction,ocnstruction

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for construction

Misspelling Variants of "construction"

cconstruction13cnostruction12connstruction13consrtuction12consstruction13constrcution12constrruction13construcction13
Misspelling Variants of "construction"

Frequency rank: #1,137 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "construction"?
"construction" is spelled C-O-N-S-T-R-U-C-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /kənˈstɹʌkʃən/.
What does "construction" mean?
As a noun, "construction" means: The process of constructing.
What words are commonly confused with "construction"?
"construction" is commonly confused with "contraction", "constructor", "constructive". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "construction"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "construction" is /kənˈstɹʌkʃən/. 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 "construction"?
From Middle English construccioun, construction, from Old French construction, from Latin cōnstructiō, from cōnstruere. Morphologically construct + -ion. 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter C in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.