diction
/ˈdɪk.ʃən/noun
diction is spelled D-I-C-T-I-O-N: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 41,154th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, diction means “Choice and use of words, especially with regard to effective communication; the effectiveness and degree of clarity of word choice and expression” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of diction is dictions.
How many letters and syllables are in diction?
| Letters | 7: D-I-C-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 41,154th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is diction?
Diction appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 41,154th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce diction?
- /ˈdɪk.ʃən/
Diction has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-diction.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of diction
- dictions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does diction mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Choice and use of words, especially with regard to effective communication; the effectiveness and degree of clarity of word choice and expression.
the identification of the poetic impulse with sonorous diction
- 2
Enunciation, pronunciation, or both.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Diction in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense clarity of word choice:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | diction |
| German | Ausdrucksweise, Diktion |
| Portuguese | dicção |
| Spanish | dicción |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does diction come from?
From late Middle English diccion (“something said; a word or phrase”) (an obsolete sense in Modern English), borrowed directly from Latin dictiō (“a saying, speaking, uttering”) or from Old French dicïon (“word”) (Anglo-Norman dictyoun), from Late Latin dictiō (“word”), both from dīcō (“to say, to talk”) + -tiō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to show, to point out”). The modern senses of “choice and use of words” and “clarity of word choice” were likely influenced by additional senses of dictiō.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).