gestation

/d͡ʒɛsˈteɪʃən/

//d͡ʒɛsˈteɪʃən// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"gestation" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“gestation” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #28,934. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#28,934
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The period of time during which an animal or human offspring physically develops inside the mother's body until it is born.

Corpus desk

Index EN-gestation · gestation · English

gestation · rank #28,934 · 14 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #28,934
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH gelatin

Nearest frequency peer: gelatin (-1 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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “gestation”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “gestation” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

gestation vs gestational
82% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for gestation
PropertyValue
Headwordgestation
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/d͡ʒɛsˈteɪʃən/
Letters9
Frequency rank#28,934
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “gestation”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).gestationlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “gelatin” (#28,933), “Guangdong” (#28,935), “Guggenheim” (#28,936). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “gestation” is #28,934. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around gestation (IPA /d͡ʒɛsˈteɪʃən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #28,934 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for gestation, with forms such as "egstation", "gesattion", and "gesstation". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "gestational", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Latin gestātiō. The correct English form is gestation, spelled G-E-S-T-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    The period of time during which an animal or human offspring physically develops inside the mother's body until it is born.
  2. 2
    The process of development of a plan or idea.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how gestation appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. It was to a conversation with another friend who had for many years been familiar with all my writings during the period of their gestation, just as I had been with his.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin gestātiō.

Synonyms

pregnancy

This word in other languages

gestación(Español)gestation(Français)Reifung(Deutsch)gestação(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • egstation
  • gesattion
  • gesstation
  • gestaiton
  • gestasion
  • gestatino
  • gestationn
  • gestatoin
  • gestattion
  • gesttaion
  • gesttation
  • getsation
  • ggestation
  • gsetation

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of gestation - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

egstation2gesattion2gesstation1gestaiton2gestasion1gestatino2gestationn1gestatoin2
Edit distance from "gestation"

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

How do you spell "gestation"?
"gestation" is spelled G-E-S-T-A-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /d͡ʒɛsˈteɪʃən/.
What does "gestation" mean?
As a noun, "gestation" means: The period of time during which an animal or human offspring physically develops inside the mother's body until it is born.
What words are commonly confused with "gestation"?
"gestation" is commonly confused with "gestational". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "gestation"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "gestation" is /d͡ʒɛsˈteɪʃən/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "gestation"?
Learned borrowing from Latin gestātiō. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "gestation", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Guangdong#28,935Fullerton#28,929extremity#28,916embedding#28,905

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

invalidate14 variantsecumenical14 variantsconundrum14 variantsnucleotide14 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list