# erection

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɪˈɹɛkʃən/ · frequency rank #14,525

## Definitions
1. The act of building or putting up or together of something.
2. Anything erected or built.
3. Formal approval and official establishment of an institution such as a society or a monastery by higher church authorities.
4. The physiological process by which erectile tissue, such as a penis or clitoris, becomes erect by being engorged with blood.
5. The state or quality of being erect from engorgement with blood.
6. A 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.

## Easily confused with
- **eruption** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/erection-vs-eruption)
- **eviction** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/erection-vs-eviction)
- **exertion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/erection-vs-exertion)
- **execution** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/erection-vs-execution)
- **election** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/election-vs-erection)
- **electron** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/electron-vs-erection)
- **ejection** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ejection-vs-erection)
- **erecting** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/erecting-vs-erection)
- **erectile** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/erectile-vs-erection)
- **elections** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/elections-vs-erection)

## Common misspellings (12)
`eerction`, `ercetion`, `erecction`, `ereciton`, `erecsion`, `erectino`, `erectionn`, `erectoin`, `erecttion`, `eretcion`, `errection`, `reection`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/erection