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division

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

8 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "division", 8-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "division" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "division" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

division is aEnglishnoun. It means: The act or process of dividing anything. Pronounced /dɪˈvɪʒn̩/. It ranks #1,451 in English word frequency. Often confused with divisive and divisions.

Key facts for division
PropertyValue
Headworddivision
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/dɪˈvɪʒn̩/
Letters8
Frequency rank#1,451
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of division in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for division is 8 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dɪˈvɪʒn̩/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,451 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 16 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 12 documented wrong-spelling variants for division, with forms such as "ddivision", "diivsion", and "diviison". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "divisive", "divisions", "divisional", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English divisioun, from Old French division, from Latin dīvīsiō, dīvīsiōnem, noun of process form from perfect passive participle dīvīsus (“divided”), from dīvidō (“divide”). Doublet of divisio. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is division, spelled D-I-V-I-S-I-O-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act or process of dividing anything.
  2. 2
    Each of the separate parts of something resulting from division.
  3. 3
    The process of dividing a number by another.
  4. 4
    A calculation that involves this process.
  5. 5
    A formation, usually made up of two or three brigades.
  6. 6
    A usually high-level section of a large company or conglomerate.
  7. 7
    A rank below kingdom and above class, particularly used of plants or fungi, also (particularly of animals) called a phylum; a taxon at that rank.
  8. 8
    An optional rank subordinate to the infraclass and superordinate to the legion and cohort; a taxon at that rank.
  9. 9
    A disagreement; a difference of viewpoint between two sides of an argument.
  10. 10
    A method by which a legislature is separated into groups in order to take a better estimate of vote than a voice vote.
  11. 11
    A florid instrumental variation of a melody in the 17th and 18th centuries, originally conceived as the dividing of each of a succession of long notes into several short ones.
  12. 12
    A set of pipes in a pipe organ which are independently controlled and supplied.
  13. 13
    A concept whereby a common group of debtors are only responsible for their proportionate sum of the total debt.
  14. 14
    Any of the four major parts of a COBOL program source code.
  15. 15
    A lesson; a class.
  16. 16
    A parliamentary constituency.

Etymology

PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English divisioun, from Old French division, from Latin dīvīsiō, dīvīsiōnem, noun of process form from perfect passive participle dīvīsus (“divided”), from dīvidō (“divide”). Doublet of divisio.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ddivision,diivsion,diviison,divisino,divisionn,divisoin,divission,divition,divsiion,divvision,dviision,idvision

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for division

Misspelling Variants of "division"

ddivision9diivsion8diviison8divisino8divisionn9divisoin8divission9divition8
Misspelling Variants of "division"

Frequency rank: #1,451 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "division"?
"division" is spelled D-I-V-I-S-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /dɪˈvɪʒn̩/.
What does "division" mean?
As a noun, "division" means: The act or process of dividing anything.
What words are commonly confused with "division"?
"division" is commonly confused with "divisive", "divisions", "divisional". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "division"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "division" is /dɪˈvɪʒn̩/. 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 "division"?
PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English divisioun, from Old French division, from Latin dīvīsiō, dīvīsiōnem, noun of process form from perfect passive participle dīvīsus (“divided”), from dīvidō (“divide”). Doublet of divisio. 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter D in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.