notation
/noʊˈteɪʃən/
"notation" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“notation” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,669 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #15,669
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The act, process, method, or an instance of representing by a system or set of marks, signs, figures, or characters.
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 | notation |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /noʊˈteɪʃən/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #15,669 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “notation” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for notation is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /noʊˈteɪʃən/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,669 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for notation, with forms such as "nnotation", "noattion", and "notaiton". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "notion", "nation", "negation", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin notātiō, equivalent to notate + -ion or note + -ation. The correct English form is notation, spelled N-O-T-A-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1The act, process, method, or an instance of representing by a system or set of marks, signs, figures, or characters.
- 2A system of characters, symbols, or abbreviated expressions used in an art or science or in mathematics or logic to express technical facts or quantities.
- 3A specific note or piece of information written in such a notation.
Etymology
From Latin notātiō, equivalent to notate + -ion or note + -ation.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: nnotation,noattion,notaiton,notasion,notatino,notationn,notatoin,notattion,nottaion,nottation,ntoation,ontation
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of notation - 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 “notation”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is N-O-T-A-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /noʊˈteɪʃən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “notion” - see the side-by-side comparison. notation vs notion
- 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.