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indulgence

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

10 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "indulgence", 10-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Wiktionary, and usage frequency ranked against an open word-frequency list covering the top 100,000 English words. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "indulgence" 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 "indulgence" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

indulgence is aEnglishnoun. It means: The act of indulging. Pronounced /ɪnˈdʌl.d͡ʒəns/. Often confused with indulgent.

Key facts for indulgence
PropertyValue
Headwordindulgence
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɪnˈdʌl.d͡ʒəns/
Letters10
Frequency rank#22,707
Misspellings tracked16
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of indulgence in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for indulgence is 10 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪnˈdʌl.d͡ʒəns/. Corpus data places it at rank #22,707 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for indulgence, with forms such as "idnulgence", "inddulgence", and "indlugence". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "indulgent", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English indulgence, indulgens, from Middle French indulgence and its source, Latin indulgentia. 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 indulgence, spelled I-N-D-U-L-G-E-N-C-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act of indulging.
  2. 2
    Tolerance.
  3. 3
    The act of catering to someone's every desire.
  4. 4
    A wish or whim satisfied.
  5. 5
    Something in which someone indulges.
  6. 6
    An indulgent act; a favour granted; gratification.
  7. 7
    A pardon or release from the expectation of punishment in purgatory, after the sinner has been granted absolution.

Etymology

From Middle English indulgence, indulgens, from Middle French indulgence and its source, Latin indulgentia.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: idnulgence,inddulgence,indlugence,induglence,indulegnce,indulgance,indulgecne,indulgencce,indulgenec,indulgennce,indulggence,indulgnece,indullgence,inndulgence,inudlgence,nidulgence

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for indulgence

Misspelling Variants of "indulgence"

idnulgence10inddulgence11indlugence10induglence10indulegnce10indulgance10indulgecne10indulgencce11
Misspelling Variants of "indulgence"

Frequency rank: #22,707 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "indulgence"?
"indulgence" is spelled I-N-D-U-L-G-E-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ɪnˈdʌl.d͡ʒəns/.
What does "indulgence" mean?
As a noun, "indulgence" means: The act of indulging.
What words are commonly confused with "indulgence"?
"indulgence" is commonly confused with "indulgent". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "indulgence"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "indulgence" is /ɪnˈdʌl.d͡ʒəns/. 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 "indulgence"?
From Middle English indulgence, indulgens, from Middle French indulgence and its source, Latin indulgentia. 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter I in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.