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radiation

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 "radiation", 9-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 "radiation" 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 "radiation" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

radiation is aEnglishnoun. It means: The shooting forth of anything from a point or surface, like diverging rays of light. Pronounced /ˌɹeɪ.diˈeɪ.ʃən/. It ranks #4,552 in English word frequency. Often confused with radiator.

Key facts for radiation
PropertyValue
Headwordradiation
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌɹeɪ.diˈeɪ.ʃən/
Letters9
Frequency rank#4,552
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

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

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for radiation is 9 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌɹeɪ.diˈeɪ.ʃən/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,552 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 13 documented wrong-spelling variants for radiation, with forms such as "ardiation", "radaition", and "raddiation". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "radiator", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin radiatio, radiationis. By surface analysis, radiate + -ion. 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 radiation, spelled R-A-D-I-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
    The shooting forth of anything from a point or surface, like diverging rays of light.
  2. 2
    The shooting forth of anything from a point or surface, like diverging rays of light.
  3. 3
    The process of radiating waves or particles.
  4. 4
    The transfer of energy via radiation.
  5. 5
    Radioactive energy.
  6. 6
    A rapid diversification of an ancestral species into many new forms.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin radiatio, radiationis. By surface analysis, radiate + -ion.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ardiation,radaition,raddiation,radiaiton,radiasion,radiatino,radiationn,radiatoin,radiattion,raditaion,raidation,rdaiation,rradiation

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for radiation

Misspelling Variants of "radiation"

ardiation9radaition9raddiation10radiaiton9radiasion9radiatino9radiationn10radiatoin9
Misspelling Variants of "radiation"

Frequency rank: #4,552 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "radiation"?
"radiation" is spelled R-A-D-I-A-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌɹeɪ.diˈeɪ.ʃən/.
What does "radiation" mean?
As a noun, "radiation" means: The shooting forth of anything from a point or surface, like diverging rays of light.
What words are commonly confused with "radiation"?
"radiation" is commonly confused with "radiator". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "radiation"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "radiation" is /ˌɹeɪ.diˈeɪ.ʃən/. 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 "radiation"?
Borrowed from Latin radiatio, radiationis. By surface analysis, radiate + -ion. 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 R 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.