dilation
/daɪˈleɪʃən/
"dilation" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dilation” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #33,615 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #33,615
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The act of dilating.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dilation |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /daɪˈleɪʃən/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #33,615 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “dilation” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for dilation is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /daɪˈleɪʃən/. Corpus data places it at rank #33,615 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for dilation, with forms such as "ddilation", "dialtion", and "dilaiton". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "duration", "donation", "dilution", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From dilate + -ion, late 16th c. The correct English form is dilation, spelled D-I-L-A-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1The act of dilating.
- 2State of being dilated; expansion; dilatation.
- 3Delay.
- 4In morphology, a basic operation (denoted ⊕) that usually uses a structuring element for probing and expanding the shapes contained in the input image.
Etymology
From dilate + -ion, late 16th c.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddilation,dialtion,dilaiton,dilasion,dilatino,dilationn,dilatoin,dilattion,dillation,diltaion,dliation,idlation
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of dilation - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “dilation”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-I-L-A-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /daɪˈleɪʃən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “duration” - see the side-by-side comparison. dilation vs duration
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.