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quotation

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

Letters

9 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "quotation", 9-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Wiktionary, and usage frequency ranked against an open word-frequency list covering the top 100,000 English words. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "quotation" 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 "quotation" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

quotation is aEnglishnoun. It means: A fragment of a human expression that is repeated by somebody else, for example from literature or a famous speech. Pronounced /kwoʊˈteɪʃn̩/. Often confused with quotations.

Key facts for quotation
PropertyValue
Headwordquotation
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kwoʊˈteɪʃn̩/
Letters9
Frequency rank#14,820
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for quotation is 9 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kwoʊˈteɪʃn̩/. Corpus data places it at rank #14,820 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for quotation, with forms such as "qoutation", "qquotation", and "quoattion". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "quotations", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: The obsolete sense of “quota”, from Medieval Latin quotātiō, from Latin quotāre, is attested from the 15th century. The sense “fragment of verbal expression”, attested from the 17th century, may come from this source, or else from the verb quote + -ation. 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 quotation, spelled Q-U-O-T-A-T-I-O-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A fragment of a human expression that is repeated by somebody else, for example from literature or a famous speech.
  2. 2
    The act of quoting someone or something.
  3. 3
    A price that has been quoted for buying or selling.
  4. 4
    The act of setting a price.
  5. 5
    A quota, a share.

Etymology

The obsolete sense of “quota”, from Medieval Latin quotātiō, from Latin quotāre, is attested from the 15th century. The sense “fragment of verbal expression”, attested from the 17th century, may come from this source, or else from the verb quote + -ation.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: qoutation,qquotation,quoattion,quotaiton,quotasion,quotatino,quotationn,quotatoin,quotattion,quottaion,quottation,qutoation,uqotation

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for quotation

Misspelling Variants of "quotation"

qoutation9qquotation10quoattion9quotaiton9quotasion9quotatino9quotationn10quotatoin9
Misspelling Variants of "quotation"

Frequency rank: #14,820 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "quotation"?
"quotation" is spelled Q-U-O-T-A-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /kwoʊˈteɪʃn̩/.
What does "quotation" mean?
As a noun, "quotation" means: A fragment of a human expression that is repeated by somebody else, for example from literature or a famous speech.
What words are commonly confused with "quotation"?
"quotation" is commonly confused with "quotations". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "quotation"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "quotation" is /kwoʊˈteɪʃn̩/. 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 "quotation"?
The obsolete sense of “quota”, from Medieval Latin quotātiō, from Latin quotāre, is attested from the 15th century. The sense “fragment of verbal expression”, attested from the 17th century, may come from this source, or else from the verb quote +... 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 Q in our English index:

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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.