partition

/pɑɹˈtɪ.ʃən/

//pɑɹˈtɪ.ʃən// noun

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

"partition" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“partition” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #11,758. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#11,758
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An action which divides a thing into parts, or separates one thing from another.

Corpus desk

Index EN-partition · partition · English

partition · rank #11,758 · 14 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #11,758
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH parcel

Nearest frequency peer: parcel (-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 “partition”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “partition” 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).

partition vs petition
78% similar

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

Key facts for partition
PropertyValue
Headwordpartition
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pɑɹˈtɪ.ʃən/
Letters9
Frequency rank#11,758
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “partition”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).partitionlands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “parcel” (#11,757), “peculiar” (#11,759), “panties” (#11,756). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “partition” is #11,758. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around partition (IPA /pɑɹˈtɪ.ʃən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #11,758 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 13 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for partition, with forms such as "aprtition", "parittion", and "parrtition". 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, "petition", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Recorded c.1430, "division into shares, distinction," from Middle English particioun, from Old French particion (modern partition), from Latin partitio, partitionem (“division, portion”), from partitus, the past participle of partire (“to split (up), part(i… The correct English form is partition, spelled P-A-R-T-I-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    An action which divides a thing into parts, or separates one thing from another.
  2. 2
    A part of something that has been divided.
  3. 3
    An approach to division in which one asks what the size of each part is, rather than (as in quotition) how many parts there are.
  4. 4
    The division of a territory into two or more autonomous ones.
  5. 5
    A vertical structure that divides a room.
  6. 6
    That which divides or separates; that by which different things, or distinct parts of the same thing, are separated; boundary; dividing line or space.
  7. 7
    A part divided off by walls; an apartment; a compartment.
  8. 8
    The severance of common or undivided interests, particularly in real estate. It may be effected by consent of parties, or by compulsion of law.
  9. 9
    A section of a hard disk separately formatted.
  10. 10
    A division of a database or one of its constituting elements such as tables into separate independent parts.
  11. 11
    A division of a data stream, such as a messaging queue or topic (often representing a unit of parallelism, and of fault tolerance).
  12. 12
    A collection of non-empty, disjoint subsets of a set whose union is the set itself (i.e. all elements of the set are contained in exactly one of the subsets).
  13. 13
    A musical score.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. the partitions of Poland
  2. And good from bad find no partition.

Etymology

Recorded c.1430, "division into shares, distinction," from Middle English particioun, from Old French particion (modern partition), from Latin partitio, partitionem (“division, portion”), from partitus, the past participle of partire (“to split (up), part(ition)”).

Synonyms

dismemberment

This word in other languages

parte(Español)partition(Français)Teilung(Deutsch)partição(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • aprtition
  • parittion
  • parrtition
  • partiiton
  • partision
  • partitino
  • partitionn
  • partitoin
  • partittion
  • parttiion
  • parttition
  • patrition
  • ppartition
  • pratition

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

aprtition2parittion2parrtition1partiiton2partision1partitino2partitionn1partitoin2
Edit distance from "partition"

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 "partition"?
"partition" is spelled P-A-R-T-I-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /pɑɹˈtɪ.ʃən/.
What does "partition" mean?
As a noun, "partition" means: An action which divides a thing into parts, or separates one thing from another.
What words are commonly confused with "partition"?
"partition" is commonly confused with "petition". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "partition"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "partition" is /pɑɹˈtɪ.ʃən/. 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 "partition"?
Recorded c.1430, "division into shares, distinction," from Middle English particioun, from Old French particion (modern partition), from Latin partitio, partitionem (“division, portion”), from partitus, the past participle of partire (“to split (u... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

realities#11,773malicious#11,739riverside#11,785inaugural#11,725

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

greetings14 variantsgardening14 variantsembracing14 variantscosmetics14 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list