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” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #624. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#624
frequency rank, English
46,516
“P” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

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

Corpus desk

Index EN-position · position · English

position · rank #624 · 12 variants · 8 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #624
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 46,516
  • PHOTO-FINISH period

Nearest frequency peer: period (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “position”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “position” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of May 6, 2026

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.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around position (IPA /pəˈzɪʃ.ən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #624 among 46,516 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 13 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

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.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Train positions and speeds were established by a track magnet at each milepost, which produced a suitable mark on the punched recording tape whenever a train passed.
  2. Chief of Staff is the second-highest position in the army.

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

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

happened#634military#638personal#640security#641

Similar misspelling depth

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

beautiful12 variantstraining12 variantswouldn't12 variantsinterest12 variants
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