occultation
/ˌɒkəlˈteɪʃ(ə)n/
"occultation" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“occultation” is an uncommon English word, ranked #88,670 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #88,670
- frequency rank, English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An astronomical event that occurs when one celestial object is hidden by another celestial object that passes between it and the observer when the nearer object appears larger and completely hides ...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | occultation |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌɒkəlˈteɪʃ(ə)n/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #88,670 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “occultation” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for occultation is 11 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌɒkəlˈteɪʃ(ə)n/. Corpus data places it at rank #88,670 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 edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for occultation, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin occultātiōnem, accusative singular of occultātiō (“concealment; insinuation”), from occultāre, present active infinitive of occultō (“to conceal, hide”); analysable as occult + -ation. The correct English form is occultation, spelled O-C-C-U-L-T-A-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1An astronomical event that occurs when one celestial object is hidden by another celestial object that passes between it and the observer when the nearer object appears larger and completely hides the more distant object.
- 2The state of being occult (“hidden, undetected”).
- 3The disappearance of the Twelfth Imam, or Mahdi, who is believed alive and present in this world, but hidden until his reappearance at the end of time.
Etymology
From Latin occultātiōnem, accusative singular of occultātiō (“concealment; insinuation”), from occultāre, present active infinitive of occultō (“to conceal, hide”); analysable as occult + -ation.
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); 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 “occultation”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-C-C-U-L-T-A-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌɒkəlˈteɪʃ(ə)n/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.