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positional

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

10 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "positional", 10-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "positional" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "positional" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

positional is anEnglishadj. It means: Relating to the position of something. Often confused with positions and positioned.

Key facts for positional
PropertyValue
Headwordpositional
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdj
Letters10
Frequency rank#29,044
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of positional in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for positional is 10 letters long, classified as anadj. Corpus data places it at rank #29,044 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 14 documented wrong-spelling variants for positional, with forms such as "opsitional", "poistional", and "posiitonal". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "positions", "positioned", "position", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From position + -al. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is positional, spelled P-O-S-I-T-I-O-N-A-L, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Relating to the position of something.
  2. 2
    Having or pertaining to a value that is a function of its social desirability, as opposed to its utility.
  3. 3
    Based on long-term strategy, on gaining and exploiting small advantages, and on analyzing the larger position, rather than calculating more immediate tactics.
  4. 4
    An argument that is passed to a subroutine according to its position in the invocation code, rather than on its name; compare with named.

Etymology

From position + -al.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: opsitional,poistional,posiitonal,positinoal,positioanl,positionall,positionla,positionnal,positoinal,posittional,possitional,postiional,ppositional,psoitional

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for positional

Misspelling Variants of "positional"

opsitional10poistional10posiitonal10positinoal10positioanl10positionall11positionla10positionnal11
Misspelling Variants of "positional"

Frequency rank: #29,044 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "positional"?
"positional" is spelled P-O-S-I-T-I-O-N-A-L.
What does "positional" mean?
As an adj, "positional" means: Relating to the position of something.
What words are commonly confused with "positional"?
"positional" is commonly confused with "positions", "positioned", "position". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What is the origin of the word "positional"?
From position + -al. 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter P in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.