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friction

fric·tion/ˈfɹɪkʃən/noun

friction is spelled F-R-I-C-T-I-O-N: 8 letters and 2 syllables (fric·tion). It appears 5.1 times per million words in written English, the 11,015th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, friction means “The rubbing of one object or surface against another” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of friction is frictions.

How many letters and syllables are in friction?

Letters8: F-R-I-C-T-I-O-N
Syllables2: fric·tion
In writing5.1 times per million words; the 11,015th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is friction?

Friction appears 5.1 times per million words in written English, the 11,015th 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 friction?

  • /ˈfɹɪkʃən/
  • [ˈfɹʷɪkʃən] ~ [ˈfɹʷɪkʃn̩]

Friction has 2 syllables, split fric·tion in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-friction.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of friction

  • frictions plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does friction mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The rubbing of one object or surface against another.

  2. 2

    A force that resists the relative motion or tendency to such motion of two bodies in contact.

  3. 3

    obsoleteA massage of the body to restore circulation.

  4. 4

    Conflict, as between persons having dissimilar ideas or interests; clash.

  5. 5

    Any obstacle or hindrance that makes a system less convenient or desirable to use.

    Users have reported friction from having to enter their passwords many times a day.

  6. 6

    Conflict during the Second Sino-Japanese War, as between the Communists and non-hanjian Kuomintang forces.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Friction in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchfrottement, friction (The rubbing of one object or surface against…), désaccord (conflict)
GermanReibung (The rubbing of one object or surface against…), Reiberei, Friktion (conflict)
Portuguesefricção (The rubbing of one object or surface against…), atrito ((physics) A force that resists the relative…)
Spanishfricción (The rubbing of one object or surface against…)

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 friction come from?

From Middle French friction and directly from Latin frictionem, nom. frictio (“a rubbing, rubbing down”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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