redefinition

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"redefinition" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“redefinition” is uncommon English (frequency #60,410 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#60,410
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The act or event of redefining.

Corpus desk

Index EN-redefinition · redefinition · English

redefinition · rank #60,410 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #60,410
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH redistributing

Nearest frequency peer: redistributing (+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 “redefinition”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for redefinition
PropertyValue
Headwordredefinition
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters12
Frequency rank#60,410
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “redefinition” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).redefinitionfalls 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: “redistributing” (#60,411), “Ravenswood” (#60,408), “regionalism” (#60,412). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “redefinition” is #60,410. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

redefinition is uncommon English at frequency #60,410 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The act or event of redefining.".

redefinition has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From re- + definition. The correct English form is redefinition, spelled R-E-D-E-F-I-N-I-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act or event of redefining.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. George Orwell's novel 1984 proposed that people's thoughts could be constrained by the redefinition of words in their language.
  2. Although the value of the kilogram will not change, the redefinition of the kilogram using a constant will ensure it remains reliable, and enable far more accurate mass measurements in the future.

Etymology

From re- + definition.

This word in other languages

redéfinition(Français)

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 "redefinition"?
"redefinition" is spelled R-E-D-E-F-I-N-I-T-I-O-N.
What does "redefinition" mean?
As a noun, "redefinition" means: The act or event of redefining.
What is the origin of the word "redefinition"?
From re- + definition. 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 "redefinition", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 12 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

repossession#60,417rheumatology#60,422perpetuation#60,358thankfulness#60,512

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list