fixation
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
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8 characters
Language
English
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "fixation", 8-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "fixation" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "fixation" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
fixation is aEnglishnoun. It means: The act of fixing. Pronounced /fɪksˈeɪʃən/. Often confused with fiction.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fixation |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /fɪksˈeɪʃən/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #20,357 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for fixation is 8 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /fɪksˈeɪʃən/. Corpus data places it at rank #20,357 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 12 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 12 documented wrong-spelling variants for fixation, with forms such as "ffixation", "fiaxtion", and "fixaiton". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "fiction", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Old French fixation. By surface analysis, fix + -ation. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is fixation, spelled F-I-X-A-T-I-O-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1The act of fixing.
- 2The state of being fixed or fixated.
- 3The act of uniting chemically with a solid substance or in a solid form; reduction to a non-volatile condition; -- said of volatile elements.
- 4The act or process of ceasing to be fluid and becoming firm.
- 5In metals, a state of resistance to evaporation or volatilization by heat.
- 6A state of mind involving obsession with a particular person, idea, or thing.
- 7A state of mind involving obsession with a particular person, idea, or thing.
- 8Recording a creative work in a medium of expression for more than a transitory duration, thereby satisfying the "fixation" requirement for the purposes of copyright law.
- 9The change in a gene pool from a situation where there exists at least two variants of a particular gene (allele) to a situation where only one of the alleles remains.
- 10preservation of biological tissues from decay due to autolysis or putrefaction.
- 11process by which an injury is rendered immobile.
- 12maintaining of the gaze on a single location.
Etymology
From Old French fixation. By surface analysis, fix + -ation.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ffixation,fiaxtion,fixaiton,fixasion,fixatino,fixationn,fixatoin,fixattion,fixtaion,fixxation,fxiation,ifxation
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for fixation
Misspelling Variants of "fixation"
Frequency rank: #20,357 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter F in our English index: