desiccation

/ˌdɛsɪˈkeɪʃən/

//ˌdɛsɪˈkeɪʃən// noun

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

The verdict

“desiccation” is uncommon English (frequency #74,025 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#74,025
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The state or process of being desiccated

Corpus desk

Index EN-desiccation · desiccation · English

desiccation · rank #74,025 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #74,025
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH deregulate

Nearest frequency peer: deregulate (-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 “desiccation”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for desiccation
PropertyValue
Headworddesiccation
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌdɛsɪˈkeɪʃən/
Letters11
Frequency rank#74,025
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “desiccation” 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).desiccationfalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “deregulate” (#74,024), “depositional” (#74,023), “depolarization” (#74,022). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “desiccation” is #74,025. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

desiccation is uncommon English at frequency #74,025 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌdɛsɪˈkeɪʃən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for desiccation, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French dessiccation, from Late Latin desiccatio, desiccationem, from Latin desicco. The correct English form is desiccation, spelled D-E-S-I-C-C-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    The state or process of being desiccated
  2. 2
    An act or occurrence of desiccating

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. The most important mortality affecting the larval population was most probably caused by the repeated desiccations of the marsh in the summer.

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French dessiccation, from Late Latin desiccatio, desiccationem, from Latin desicco.

Synonyms

demoisturizationdemoisturisation

This word in other languages

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 "desiccation"?
"desiccation" is spelled D-E-S-I-C-C-A-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌdɛsɪˈkeɪʃən/.
What does "desiccation" mean?
As a noun, "desiccation" means: The state or process of being desiccated
How do you pronounce "desiccation"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "desiccation" is /ˌdɛsɪˈkeɪʃən/. 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 "desiccation"?
Borrowed from Middle French dessiccation, from Late Latin desiccatio, desiccationem, from Latin desicco. 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 "desiccation", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list