position

/pəˈzɪʃ.ən/

//pəˈzɪʃ.ən// noun

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

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

The verdict

“position” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #624 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#624
frequency rank, English
8
letters
12
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A place or location.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

position vs potion
75% similar
position vs positive
75% similar
position vs positron
88% similar

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

Key facts for position
PropertyValue
Headwordposition
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pəˈzɪʃ.ən/
Letters8
Frequency rank#624
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “position” sits in English frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for position is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pəˈzɪʃ.ən/. Corpus data places it at rank #624 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 13 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for position, with forms such as "opsition", "poistion", and "posiiton". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "potion", "positive", "positron", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English posicioun, from Old French posicion, from Latin positiō (“a putting, position”), from positus (“placed, situated”), past participle of pōnō (“to place”); see ponent. Compare apposition, composition, deposition; see pose. The correct English form is position, spelled P-O-S-I-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A place or location.
  2. 2
    A post of employment; a job.
  3. 3
    A status or rank.
  4. 4
    An opinion, stand, or stance.
  5. 5
    A posture.
  6. 6
    A situation suitable to perform some action.
  7. 7
    A place on the playing field, together with a set of duties, assigned to a player.
  8. 8
    An amount of securities, commodities, or other financial instruments held by a person, firm, or institution.
  9. 9
    A commitment, or a group of commitments, such as options or futures, to buy or sell a given amount of financial instruments, such as securities, currencies or commodities, for a given price.
  10. 10
    A method of solving a problem by one or two suppositions; also called the rule of trial and error.
  11. 11
    The full state of a chess game at any given turn.
  12. 12
    The order in which players are seated around the table.
  13. 13
    A pin; a connector.

Etymology

From Middle English posicioun, from Old French posicion, from Latin positiō (“a putting, position”), from positus (“placed, situated”), past participle of pōnō (“to place”); see ponent. Compare apposition, composition, deposition; see pose.

This word in other languages

posición(Español)position(Français)Stellung(Deutsch)posição(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: opsition,poistion,posiiton,posision,positino,positionn,positoin,posittion,possition,postiion,pposition,psoition

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of position - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

opsition2poistion2posiiton2posision1positino2positionn1positoin2posittion1
Edit distance from "position"

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 "position"?
"position" is spelled P-O-S-I-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /pəˈzɪʃ.ən/.
What does "position" mean?
As a noun, "position" means: A place or location.
What words are commonly confused with "position"?
"position" is commonly confused with "potion", "positive", "positron". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "position"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "position" is /pəˈzɪʃ.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 "position"?
From Middle English posicioun, from Old French posicion, from Latin positiō (“a putting, position”), from positus (“placed, situated”), past participle of pōnō (“to place”); see ponent. Compare apposition, composition, deposition; see pose. 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.

Using “position”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is P-O-S-I-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /pəˈzɪʃ.ən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “potion” - see the side-by-side comparison. position vs potion
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list