involution
/ɪnvəˈluːʃən/noun
involution is spelled I-N-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N: 10 letters. It appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 88,353rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, involution means “Entanglement; a spiralling inwards; intricacy” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of involution is involutions.
How many letters and syllables are in involution?
| Letters | 10: I-N-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 9 million words; the 88,353rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none 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 involution?
Involution appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 88,353rd 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 involution?
- /ɪnvəˈluːʃən/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-involution.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of involution
- involutions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does involution mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Entanglement; a spiralling inwards; intricacy.
- 2
A complicated grammatical construction.
- 3
An endofunction whose square is equal to the identity function; a function equal to its inverse.
- 4
The shrinking of an organ (such as the uterus) to a former size.
- 5
The regressive changes in the body occurring with old age.
- 6
obsoleteA power: the result of raising one number to the power of another.
- 7
A cessation of development or progress involving intense inner competition.
- 8
A state of increased competition for limited resources, requiring great effort to stay ahead.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Involution in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Einrollen , Involution , Rückbildung |
| French | involution |
| Spanish | involución |
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 involution come from?
From Latin involūtiō, from involvō.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).