# diction

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈdɪk.ʃən/ · frequency rank #41,083

## Definitions
1. Choice and use of words, especially with regard to effective communication.
2. The effectiveness and degree of clarity of word choice and expression.
3. Enunciation, pronunciation.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **dilution** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/diction-vs-dilution)
- **dilation** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/diction-vs-dilation)
- **direction** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/diction-vs-direction)
- **Dickson** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dickson-vs-diction)
- **depiction** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/depiction-vs-diction)
- **dictation** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dictation-vs-diction)

## Common misspellings (11)
`dcition`, `ddiction`, `dicction`, `diciton`, `dicsion`, `dictino`, `dictionn`, `dictoin`, `dicttion`, `ditcion`, `idction`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/diction