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occurrence

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

10 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "occurrence", 10-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "occurrence" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "occurrence" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

occurrence is aEnglishnoun. It means: An actual instance when a situation occurs; an event or happening. Pronounced /əˈkʌɹ.əns/.

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Key facts for occurrence
PropertyValue
Headwordoccurrence
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/əˈkʌɹ.əns/
Letters10
Frequency rank#10,097
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of occurrence in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for occurrence is 10 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈkʌɹ.əns/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,097 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 12 documented wrong-spelling variants for occurrence, with forms such as "cocurrence", "occrurence", and "occurence". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French occurrence, from Medieval Latin occurrentia. Morphologically occur + -ence. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is occurrence, spelled O-C-C-U-R-R-E-N-C-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    An actual instance when a situation occurs; an event or happening.
  2. 2
    The lexical aspect (aktionsart) of verbs or predicates that change in or over time.

Etymology

From Middle French occurrence, from Medieval Latin occurrentia. Morphologically occur + -ence.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: cocurrence,occrurence,occurence,occurernce,occurrance,occurrecne,occurrencce,occurrenec,occurrennce,occurrnece,ocucrrence,ocurrence

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for occurrence

Misspelling Variants of "occurrence"

cocurrence10occrurence10occurence9occurernce10occurrance10occurrecne10occurrencce11occurrenec10
Misspelling Variants of "occurrence"

Frequency rank: #10,097 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "occurrence"?
"occurrence" is spelled O-C-C-U-R-R-E-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈkʌɹ.əns/.
What does "occurrence" mean?
As a noun, "occurrence" means: An actual instance when a situation occurs; an event or happening.
What are common misspellings of "occurrence"?
Common misspellings include "cocurrence", "occrurence", "occurence", "occurernce", "occurrance". The correct spelling is "occurrence".
How do you pronounce "occurrence"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "occurrence" is /əˈkʌɹ.əns/. 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 "occurrence"?
From Middle French occurrence, from Medieval Latin occurrentia. Morphologically occur + -ence. 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter O in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.