dissimilation
/ˌdɪsɪmɪˈleɪʃən/
"dissimilation" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dissimilation” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The act of dissimilating, of making dissimilar.
Corpus desk
Index EN-dissimilation · dissimilation · English
dissimilation · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 13 letters
- VOW-6 6 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "D" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dissimilation |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌdɪsɪmɪˈleɪʃən/ |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “dissimilation” in English
Rare enough to double-check
dissimilation is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌdɪsɪmɪˈleɪʃən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for dissimilation in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From dis- + -similation, after assimilation. The correct English form is dissimilation, spelled D-I-S-S-I-M-I-L-A-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1The act of dissimilating, of making dissimilar.
- 2A dissimilatory process that supply a cell with energy only without the assimilation of nutrients.
- 3A phenomenon where one of a pair of similar adjacent consonant or vowel sounds in a word becomes less similar.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how dissimilation appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Brimstone is "properly" *brinstone, displaying an ancient careless pronunciation made respectable by being called "dissimilation".
Etymology
From dis- + -similation, after assimilation.
Antonyms
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.