elocution

/ɛləˈkjuːʃən/

//ɛləˈkjuːʃən// noun

"elocution" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“elocution” is uncommon English (frequency #69,023 among 2,246 “E” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#69,023
frequency rank, English
2,246
“E” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The art of speaking, especially public speaking, with expert control of gesture and voice, diction (articulation and word choice), and usage.

Corpus desk

Index EN-elocution · elocution · English

elocution · rank #69,023 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #69,023
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,246
  • PHOTO-FINISH elucidating

Nearest frequency peer: elucidating (+1 rank slots)

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.

Long-tail ranks near “elocution”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “elocution” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for elocution
PropertyValue
Headwordelocution
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɛləˈkjuːʃən/
Letters9
Frequency rank#69,023
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “elocution” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).elocutionfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “elucidating” (#69,024), “Edom” (#69,021), “editable” (#69,020). Among 2,246 “E” headwords, “elocution” is #69,023. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

elocution is uncommon English at frequency #69,023 among 2,246 “E” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɛləˈkjuːʃən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The art of speaking, especially public speaking, with expert control of gesture and voice, diction (articulation and word choice), and usage.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for elocution, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English elocucioun, ellocucioun, from Late Latin ēlocutiōnem. Doublet of elocutio. The correct English form is elocution, spelled E-L-O-C-U-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    The art of speaking, especially public speaking, with expert control of gesture and voice, diction (articulation and word choice), and usage.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how elocution appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. perfect elocution
  2. elocution training

Etymology

From Middle English elocucioun, ellocucioun, from Late Latin ēlocutiōnem. Doublet of elocutio.

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); 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

How do you spell "elocution"?
"elocution" is spelled E-L-O-C-U-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ɛləˈkjuːʃən/.
What does "elocution" mean?
As a noun, "elocution" means: The art of speaking, especially public speaking, with expert control of gesture and voice, diction (articulation and word choice), and usage.
How do you pronounce "elocution"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "elocution" is /ɛləˈkjuːʃən/. 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 "elocution"?
From Middle English elocucioun, ellocucioun, from Late Latin ēlocutiōnem. Doublet of elocutio. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "elocution", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list