overtaking

noun

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

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

The verdict

“overtaking” has 15 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #28,657. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#28,657
frequency rank, English
1,431
“O” headwords
15
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The act by which one thing overtakes another.

Corpus desk

Index EN-overtaking · overtaking · English

overtaking · rank #28,657 · 15 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #28,657
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,431
  • PHOTO-FINISH outperform

Nearest frequency peer: outperform (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “overtaking”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “overtaking” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

overtaking vs overtaken
80% similar

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

Key facts for overtaking
PropertyValue
Headwordovertaking
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Frequency rank#28,657
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “overtaking”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).overtakinglands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “outperform” (#28,656), “overtook” (#28,658), “outflow” (#28,655). Among 1,431 “O” headwords, “overtaking” is #28,657. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around overtaking, anoun. Corpus frequency is #28,657 among 1,431 “O” headwords. Dominant gloss: "The act by which one thing overtakes another.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for overtaking, with forms such as "oevrtaking", "overatking", and "overrtaking". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "overtaken", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is overtaking, spelled O-V-E-R-T-A-K-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act by which one thing overtakes another.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how overtaking appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Figure 3.12 shows the number of overtakings as a function of the density of the vehicles. In general, the smaller the number of overtakings, the safer the traffic.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • oevrtaking
  • overatking
  • overrtaking
  • overtaikng
  • overtakign
  • overtakingg
  • overtakinng
  • overtakking
  • overtaknig
  • overtkaing
  • overttaking
  • ovetraking
  • ovretaking
  • ovvertaking
  • voertaking

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

oevrtaking2overatking2overrtaking1overtaikng2overtakign2overtakingg1overtakinng1overtakking1
Edit distance from "overtaking"

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 "overtaking"?
"overtaking" is spelled O-V-E-R-T-A-K-I-N-G.
What does "overtaking" mean?
As a noun, "overtaking" means: The act by which one thing overtakes another.
What words are commonly confused with "overtaking"?
"overtaking" is commonly confused with "overtaken". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "overtaking" come from?
"overtaking" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "overtaking", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

outperform#28,656outfielder#28,654optimizing#28,652principled#28,676

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

pitchfork15 variantssketching15 variantshindrance15 variantsHemsworth15 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list