erection
/ɪˈɹɛkʃən/
"erection" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“erection” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #14,525 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #14,525
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 10
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The act of building or putting up or together of something.
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 | erection |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɪˈɹɛkʃən/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #14,525 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “erection” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for erection is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪˈɹɛkʃən/. Corpus data places it at rank #14,525 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 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 erection, with forms such as "eerction", "ercetion", and "erecction". 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 10 confusable-pair relationships, "eruption", "eviction", "exertion", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin ērectiō, ērectiōnis, noun of action from perfect passive participle ērectus, from verb erigō, from prefix ē- (“out of”) + regō, + action suffix -iō. The correct English form is erection, spelled E-R-E-C-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1The act of building or putting up or together of something.
- 2Anything erected or built.
- 3Formal approval and official establishment of an institution such as a society or a monastery by higher church authorities.
- 4The physiological process by which erectile tissue, such as a penis or clitoris, becomes erect by being engorged with blood.
- 5The state or quality of being erect from engorgement with blood.
- 6A penis or clitoris that is erect.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin ērectiō, ērectiōnis, noun of action from perfect passive participle ērectus, from verb erigō, from prefix ē- (“out of”) + regō, + action suffix -iō.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: eerction,ercetion,erecction,ereciton,erecsion,erectino,erectionn,erectoin,erecttion,eretcion,errection,reection
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of erection - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 “erection”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-R-E-C-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪˈɹɛkʃən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “eruption” - see the side-by-side comparison. erection vs eruption
- 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.