pasteurisation

noun

"pasteurisation" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“pasteurisation” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Heat-treatment of a perishable food to destroy heat-sensitive vegetative cells followed by immediate cooling to limit growth of the surviving cells and germination of spores.

Corpus desk

Index EN-pasteurisation · pasteurisation · English

pasteurisation · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 14 letters
  • VOW-7 7 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "P" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for pasteurisation
PropertyValue
Headwordpasteurisation
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “pasteurisation” in English

pasteurisationfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

pasteurisation is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Heat-treatment of a perishable food to destroy heat-sensitive vegetative cells followed by immediate cooling to limit growth of the surviving cells and germination of spores.".

No misspelling variants are generated for pasteurisation in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French pasteurisation, from the surname of its inventor, Louis Pasteur. The correct English form is pasteurisation, spelled P-A-S-T-E-U-R-I-S-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Heat-treatment of a perishable food to destroy heat-sensitive vegetative cells followed by immediate cooling to limit growth of the surviving cells and germination of spores.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Lorries collect the milk from the various outlying farms, whence it is taken to the district distribution centre to undergo pasteurisation.

Etymology

From French pasteurisation, from the surname of its inventor, Louis Pasteur.

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "pasteurisation"?
"pasteurisation" is spelled P-A-S-T-E-U-R-I-S-A-T-I-O-N.
What does "pasteurisation" mean?
As a noun, "pasteurisation" means: Heat-treatment of a perishable food to destroy heat-sensitive vegetative cells followed by immediate cooling to limit growth of the surviving cells and germination of spores.
What is the origin of the word "pasteurisation"?
From French pasteurisation, from the surname of its inventor, Louis Pasteur. 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list