expiation
/ɛkspiˈeɪʃən/
"expiation" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“expiation” is uncommon English (frequency #83,234 among 2,246 “E” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #83,234
- frequency rank, English
- 2,246
- “E” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An act of atonement for a sin or wrongdoing.
Corpus desk
Index EN-expiation · expiation · English
expiation · rank #83,234 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #83,234
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,246
- PHOTO-FINISH eventide
Nearest frequency peer: eventide (-3 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 “expiation”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- estrogenic
estrogenic
16,778 corpus weight
- etheric
etheric
16,776 corpus weight
- eventide
eventide
16,770 corpus weight
- expiation
expiation
16,767 corpus weight
- Fairclough
Fairclough
16,763 corpus weight
- feeler
feeler
16,759 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “expiation” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | expiation |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɛkspiˈeɪʃən/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #83,234 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “expiation” in English
Rare enough to double-check
expiation is uncommon English at frequency #83,234 among 2,246 “E” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɛkspiˈeɪʃən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for expiation in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French expiation, from Latin expiātiō(n) (“satisfaction”). The correct English form is expiation, spelled E-X-P-I-A-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1An act of atonement for a sin or wrongdoing.
- 2The act of expiating or stripping off.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how expiation appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
One day he came not: I was told, and truly, that business the most imperative required his personal attendance; yet I could not force the ghastly terror of his illness from my mind. I dared not tempt my fate by content—the agony which I suffered seemed a sort of expiation.
Under this plea, felons of the worst kind might claim, till this time, to be taken out of the hands of the law judges, and to be tried at the bishops’ tribunals; and at these tribunals, such a monstrous solecism had Catholicism become, the payment of money was ever welcomed as the ready expiation of crime.
Etymology
From Middle French expiation, from Latin expiātiō(n) (“satisfaction”).
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "expiation", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).