nation
/ˈneɪʃən/
"nation" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“nation” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,400 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #1,400
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 9
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A historically constituted, stable community of people, formed based on a common language, territory, economic life, ethnicity and/or psychological make-up manifested in a common culture.
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 | nation |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈneɪʃən/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #1,400 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 9 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “nation” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for nation is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈneɪʃən/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,400 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for nation, with forms such as "antion", "naiton", and "nasion". 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 9 confusable-pair relationships, "NATO", "native", "notion", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English nacioun, nacion, from Old French nacion, from Latin nātiōnem, accusative of nātiō (“nation”). Displaced native Old English þēod. The correct English form is nation, spelled N-A-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1A historically constituted, stable community of people, formed based on a common language, territory, economic life, ethnicity and/or psychological make-up manifested in a common culture.
- 2A historically constituted, stable community of people, formed based on a common language, territory, economic life, ethnicity and/or psychological make-up manifested in a common culture.
- 3A sovereign state; (loosely, metonymic, proscribed) a country.
- 4An association of students based on the birthplace or ethnicity of its members.
- 5A great number; a great deal.
- 6In North America, an Indigenous people with federal and/or state recognition as such and (often also) their federally recognized territory.
Etymology
From Middle English nacioun, nacion, from Old French nacion, from Latin nātiōnem, accusative of nātiō (“nation”). Displaced native Old English þēod.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: antion,naiton,nasion,natino,nationn,natoin,nattion,nnation,ntaion
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of nation - 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.
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 “nation”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is N-A-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈneɪʃən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “NATO” - see the side-by-side comparison. nation vs NATO
- 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.