mastication
/mæstɪˈkeɪʃən/
"mastication" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“mastication” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The process of chewing.
Corpus desk
Index EN-mastication · mastication · English
mastication · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "M" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | mastication |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /mæstɪˈkeɪʃən/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “mastication” in English
Rare enough to double-check
mastication is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /mæstɪˈkeɪʃən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
mastication has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Late Latin masticātiō, equivalent to masticate + -ion. The correct English form is mastication, spelled M-A-S-T-I-C-A-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1The process of chewing.
- 2The process of crushing as though chewed.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how mastication appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
“It is no more blasphemous than that thing which is swiping our meat,” I replied, for whatever the thing was, it had leaped upon our deer and was devouring it in great mouthfuls which it swallowed without mastication. The creature appeared to be a great lizard at least ten feet high, with a huge, powerful tail as long as its torso, mighty hind legs and sh…
Etymology
From Late Latin masticātiō, equivalent to masticate + -ion.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.