# contamination

> English word · Noun · IPA /kənˌtæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/ · frequency rank #11,187

## Definitions
1. The act or process of contaminating.
2. Something which contaminates.
3. A process whereby words with related meanings come to have similar sounds.
4. The influence of one form (often from a foreign language) on the historical development of another form to which it may be related in meaning.
5. The intermingling of readings from multiple sources by a copyist.

## Etymology
From Latin contāminātiōnem.

## Common misspellings (20)
`ccontamination`, `cnotamination`, `conatmination`, `conntamination`, `contaimnation`, `contamiantion`, `contaminaiton`, `contaminasion`, `contaminatino`, `contaminationn`, `contaminatoin`, `contaminattion`, `contaminnation`, `contamintaion`, `contammination`, `contamniation`, `contmaination`, `conttamination`, `cotnamination`, `ocntamination`

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