medication

/mɛdɪˈkeɪʃən/

//mɛdɪˈkeɪʃən// noun

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

"medication" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“medication” has 15 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,610. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,610
frequency rank, English
36,575
“M” headwords
15
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A medicine, or all the medicines regularly taken by a patient.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

medication vs meditation
90% similar
medication vs mediation
90% similar

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

Key facts for medication
PropertyValue
Headwordmedication
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/mɛdɪˈkeɪʃən/
Letters10
Frequency rank#5,610
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “medication” sits in English frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around medication (IPA /mɛdɪˈkeɪʃən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,610 among 36,575 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for medication, with forms such as "emdication", "mdeication", and "medciation". 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, "meditation", "mediation", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English medicacioun, from Middle French médication and its etymon Latin medicātiō, from medicārī (“to heal, cure”), from medicus (“a physician, surgeon”), from medērī (“to heal”). Equivalent to medicate + -ion. The correct English form is medication, spelled M-E-D-I-C-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A medicine, or all the medicines regularly taken by a patient.
  2. 2
    The administration of medicine.

Etymology

From Middle English medicacioun, from Middle French médication and its etymon Latin medicātiō, from medicārī (“to heal, cure”), from medicus (“a physician, surgeon”), from medērī (“to heal”). Equivalent to medicate + -ion.

This word in other languages

medicamento(Español)médication(Français)Medikation(Deutsch)medicamento(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • emdication
  • mdeication
  • medciation
  • meddication
  • mediaction
  • medicaiton
  • medicasion
  • medicatino
  • medicationn
  • medicatoin
  • medicattion
  • mediccation
  • medictaion
  • meidcation
  • mmedication

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of medication - 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.

emdication2mdeication2medciation2meddication1mediaction2medicaiton2medicasion1medicatino2
Edit distance from "medication"

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 "medication"?
"medication" is spelled M-E-D-I-C-A-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /mɛdɪˈkeɪʃən/.
What does "medication" mean?
As a noun, "medication" means: A medicine, or all the medicines regularly taken by a patient.
What words are commonly confused with "medication"?
"medication" is commonly confused with "meditation", "mediation". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "medication"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "medication" is /mɛdɪˈkeɪʃən/. 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 "medication"?
From Middle English medicacioun, from Middle French médication and its etymon Latin medicātiō, from medicārī (“to heal, cure”), from medicus (“a physician, surgeon”), from medērī (“to heal”). Equivalent to medicate + -ion. 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.

Using “medication”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is M-E-D-I-C-A-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /mɛdɪˈkeɪʃən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “meditation” - see the side-by-side comparison. medication vs meditation
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Same frequency band

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list