exploration
/ˌɛkspləˈɹeɪʃən/noun
exploration is spelled E-X-P-L-O-R-A-T-I-O-N: 11 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,206th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, exploration means “The process of exploring” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of exploration is explorations.
How many letters and syllables are in exploration?
| Letters | 11: E-X-P-L-O-R-A-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 15 times per million words; the 5,206th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is exploration?
Exploration appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,206th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce exploration?
- US /ˌɛkspləˈɹeɪʃən/
Exploration has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-exploration.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with exploration?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as exploration from its last stressed vowel (/eɪʃən/):
- situation
- association
- population
- administration
- operation
- organization
- application
- location
- generation
- foundation
- conversation
- investigation
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of exploration
- explorations plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does exploration mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The process of exploring.
- 2
The process of penetrating, or ranging over for purposes of (especially geographical) discovery.
The exploration of unknown areas was often the precursor to colonization.
- 3
The (pre-)mining process of finding and determining commercially viable ore deposits (after prospecting), also called mineral exploration.
- 4
A physical examination of a patient.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Exploration in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | exploration |
| German | Erkundung, Erforschung, Untersuchung , Entdeckungsreise |
| Portuguese | exploração |
| Spanish | exploración |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does exploration come from?
From Middle French exploration, from Latin exploratio. Morphologically explore + -ation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).