decommission

/diːkəˈmɪʃən/

//diːkəˈmɪʃən// verb

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

"decommission" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“decommission” is uncommon English (frequency #76,697 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#76,697
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To take out of service or to render unusable.

Corpus desk

Index EN-decommission · decommission · English

decommission · rank #76,697 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #76,697
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH decamp

Nearest frequency peer: decamp (-2 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 “decommission”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for decommission
PropertyValue
Headworddecommission
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/diːkəˈmɪʃən/
Letters12
Frequency rank#76,697
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “decommission” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).decommissionfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “decamp” (#76,695), “Deeside” (#76,699), “decadal” (#76,694). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “decommission” is #76,697. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

decommission is uncommon English at frequency #76,697 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /diːkəˈmɪʃən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

decommission doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From de- + commission. The correct English form is decommission, spelled D-E-C-O-M-M-I-S-S-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    To take out of service or to render unusable.
  2. 2
    To remove or revoke the commission of.
  3. 3
    To remove or revoke the formal designation of.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. They decommissioned the ship after the accident.
  2. The Army decommissioned the Sherman tank by filling the turret with cement.

Etymology

From de- + commission.

Antonyms

commission

This word in other languages

desmantelar(Español)déclasser(Français)stilllegen(Deutsch)

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 "decommission"?
"decommission" is spelled D-E-C-O-M-M-I-S-S-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /diːkəˈmɪʃən/.
What does "decommission" mean?
As a verb, "decommission" means: To take out of service or to render unusable.
How do you pronounce "decommission"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "decommission" is /diːkəˈmɪʃən/. 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 "decommission"?
From de- + commission. 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 "decommission", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 12 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

diatomaceous#76,713cosmetically#76,671collectivity#76,655equalisation#76,760

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list