decriminalisation

noun

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

"decriminalisation" is a 17-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“decriminalisation” is uncommon English (frequency #87,195 among 26,416 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#87,195
frequency rank, English
26,416
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Non-Oxford British English standard spelling of decriminalization.

Key facts for decriminalisation
PropertyValue
Headworddecriminalisation
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters17
Frequency rank#87,195
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “decriminalisation” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). decriminalisation lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

decriminalisation is uncommon English at frequency #87,195 among 26,416 “D” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Non-Oxford British English standard spelling of decriminalization.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for decriminalisation, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From de- + criminalisation. The correct English form is decriminalisation, spelled D-E-C-R-I-M-I-N-A-L-I-S-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Non-Oxford British English standard spelling of decriminalization.

Etymology

From de- + criminalisation.

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 "decriminalisation"?
"decriminalisation" is spelled D-E-C-R-I-M-I-N-A-L-I-S-A-T-I-O-N.
What does "decriminalisation" mean?
As a noun, "decriminalisation" means: Non-Oxford British English standard spelling of decriminalization.
What is the origin of the word "decriminalisation"?
From de- + criminalisation. 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.

Using “decriminalisation”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is D-E-C-R-I-M-I-N-A-L-I-S-A-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list