petition

/pəˈtɪʃ.ən/

//pəˈtɪʃ.ən// noun

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

"petition" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“petition” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #4,319. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,319
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A formal written request made by an individual or a group of people to a sovereign or political authority, often containing many signatures, soliciting some grace, right, mercy, or the redress of s...

Corpus desk

Index EN-petition · petition · English

petition · rank #4,319 · 12 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,319
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH partly

Nearest frequency peer: partly (-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 “petition”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “petition” 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).

petition vs position
75% similar
petition vs petitioner
80% similar
petition vs partition
78% similar

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

Key facts for petition
PropertyValue
Headwordpetition
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pəˈtɪʃ.ən/
Letters8
Frequency rank#4,319
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “petition”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).petitionlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “partly” (#4,318), “phrase” (#4,320), “Oregon” (#4,317). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “petition” is #4,319. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around petition (IPA /pəˈtɪʃ.ən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #4,319 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for petition, with forms such as "eptition", "peittion", and "petiiton". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "position", "petitioner", "partition", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English, borrowed from Old French peticiun, from stem of Latin petitio, petitionem (“a request, solicitation”), from petere (“to require, seek, go forward”). The correct English form is petition, spelled P-E-T-I-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A formal written request made by an individual or a group of people to a sovereign or political authority, often containing many signatures, soliciting some grace, right, mercy, or the redress of some wrong or grievance.
  2. 2
    A formal written application made to a magistrate or court for an order or a suit for divorce.
  3. 3
    A prayer or supplication, especially of which is formal or humble and made to a deity, a sovereign, or an authority.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. We're looking to get 10,000 people to sign the petition to have the bird colony given legal protection.
  2. a petition to aid

Etymology

From Middle English, borrowed from Old French peticiun, from stem of Latin petitio, petitionem (“a request, solicitation”), from petere (“to require, seek, go forward”).

This word in other languages

petición(Español)pétition(Français)Petition(Deutsch)petição(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • eptition
  • peittion
  • petiiton
  • petision
  • petitino
  • petitionn
  • petitoin
  • petittion
  • pettiion
  • pettition
  • ppetition
  • pteition

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of petition - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

eptition2peittion2petiiton2petision1petitino2petitionn1petitoin2petittion1
Edit distance from "petition"

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 "petition"?
"petition" is spelled P-E-T-I-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /pəˈtɪʃ.ən/.
What does "petition" mean?
As a noun, "petition" means: A formal written request made by an individual or a group of people to a sovereign or political authority, often containing many signatures, soliciting some grace, right, mercy, or the redress of s...
What words are commonly confused with "petition"?
"petition" is commonly confused with "position", "petitioner", "partition". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "petition"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "petition" is /pəˈtɪʃ.ən/. 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 "petition"?
From Middle English, borrowed from Old French peticiun, from stem of Latin petitio, petitionem (“a request, solicitation”), from petere (“to require, seek, go forward”). 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 "petition", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Kentucky#4,313hardware#4,307talented#4,338darkness#4,294

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

attacking12 variantscalendar12 variantsunlikely12 variantscoaching12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list