convolution

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"convolution" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“convolution” is uncommon English (frequency #54,706 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#54,706
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A twist or fold.

Corpus desk

Index EN-convolution · convolution · English

convolution · rank #54,706 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #54,706
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH cooped

Nearest frequency peer: cooped (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “convolution”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “convolution” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for convolution
PropertyValue
Headwordconvolution
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters11
Frequency rank#54,706
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “convolution” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).convolutionfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “cooped” (#54,707), “conscript” (#54,704), “Coote” (#54,708). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “convolution” is #54,706. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

convolution is uncommon English at frequency #54,706 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 7 senses are on record.

convolution has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin convolutus (“to roll together”), past participle of convolvere, from con- + volvere (“to roll”), with the suffix -tion. Equivalent to convolute + -ion. The mathematical sense is a semantic calque from Faltung. The correct English form is convolution, spelled C-O-N-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A twist or fold.
  2. 2
    Any of the folds on the surface of the brain.
  3. 3
    The shape of something rotating; a vortex.
  4. 4
    The state or condition of being convoluted.
  5. 5
    A mathematical operation on two functions that produces a third that expresses how the shape of one is modified by the other; the integral of the product of the two functions after one is reflected about the y-axis and shifted along the x-axis.
  6. 6
    A function which maps a tuple of sequences into a sequence of tuples.
  7. 7
    One 360° turn in a spring or similar helix.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how convolution appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. 1934, Aurel Wintner, The proper method in dealing with distribution functions and their convolutions (“Faltungen”) is the method of Fourier transforms, first applied systematically by Levy in his book on the calculus of probability.
  2. Linear convolution is one of the most frequent computations carried out in digital signal processing (DSP).

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin convolutus (“to roll together”), past participle of convolvere, from con- + volvere (“to roll”), with the suffix -tion. Equivalent to convolute + -ion. The mathematical sense is a semantic calque from Faltung.

This word in other languages

convolución(Español)circonvolution(Français)

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 "convolution"?
"convolution" is spelled C-O-N-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N.
What does "convolution" mean?
As a noun, "convolution" means: A twist or fold.
What is the origin of the word "convolution"?
Borrowed from Latin convolutus (“to roll together”), past participle of convolvere, from con- + volvere (“to roll”), with the suffix -tion. Equivalent to convolute + -ion. The mathematical sense is a semantic calque from Faltung. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "convolution", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Cirencester#54,690bifurcation#54,645explosively#54,768forethought#54,782

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list