reciprocation

noun

"reciprocation" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“reciprocation” is uncommon English (frequency #71,046 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#71,046
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The act of reciprocating; interchange of acts; a mutual giving and returning

Corpus desk

Index EN-reciprocation · reciprocation · English

reciprocation · rank #71,046 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #71,046
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH rearmament

Nearest frequency peer: rearmament (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “reciprocation”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “reciprocation” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for reciprocation
PropertyValue
Headwordreciprocation
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters13
Frequency rank#71,046
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “reciprocation” in English

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “rearmament” (#71,045), “Redbridge” (#71,047), “realpolitik” (#71,044). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “reciprocation” is #71,046. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

reciprocation is uncommon English at frequency #71,046 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

reciprocation doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From reciprocate + -ion. The correct English form is reciprocation, spelled R-E-C-I-P-R-O-C-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act of reciprocating; interchange of acts; a mutual giving and returning
  2. 2
    Alternate recurrence or action; as, the reciprocation of the sea in the flow and ebb of tides; oscillation.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. the reciprocation of kindness
  2. ... the same pendulum alwayes maketh its reciprocations in equall times.

Etymology

From reciprocate + -ion.

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

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 "reciprocation"?
"reciprocation" is spelled R-E-C-I-P-R-O-C-A-T-I-O-N.
What does "reciprocation" mean?
As a noun, "reciprocation" means: The act of reciprocating; interchange of acts; a mutual giving and returning
What is the origin of the word "reciprocation"?
From reciprocate + -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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 13 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list