intervention
/ɪntɚˈvɛnʃən/
"intervention" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“intervention” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #4,609 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #4,609
- frequency rank, English
- 12
- letters
- 19
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The action of intervening; interfering in some course of events.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | intervention |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɪntɚˈvɛnʃən/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Frequency rank | #4,609 |
| Misspellings tracked | 19 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “intervention” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for intervention is 12 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪntɚˈvɛnʃən/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,609 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 19 likely wrong-spelling variants for intervention, with forms such as "inetrvention", "inntervention", and "interevntion". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "intersection", "interception", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French intervention, from Latin interventiō. Morphologically intervene + -tion. The correct English form is intervention, spelled I-N-T-E-R-V-E-N-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1The action of intervening; interfering in some course of events.
- 2A legal motion through which a person or entity who has not been named as a party to a case seeks to have the court order that they be made a party.
- 3An orchestrated attempt to convince somebody with an addiction or other psychological problem to seek professional help and/or change their behavior.
- 4An action taken or procedure performed; an operation.
Etymology
From Middle French intervention, from Latin interventiō. Morphologically intervene + -tion.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: inetrvention,inntervention,interevntion,interrvention,interveniton,intervenntion,intervension,interventino,interventionn,interventoin,interventtion,intervetnion,intervnetion,intervvention,intevrention,intrevention,inttervention,itnervention,nitervention
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of intervention - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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
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Using “intervention”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-N-T-E-R-V-E-N-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪntɚˈvɛnʃən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “intersection” - see the side-by-side comparison. intervention vs intersection
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.