regulation
/ˌɹɛɡjʊˈleɪʃən/
"regulation" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“regulation” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #3,781 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #3,781
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 15
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The act of regulating or the condition of being regulated.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | regulation |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌɹɛɡjʊˈleɪʃən/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #3,781 |
| Misspellings tracked | 15 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “regulation” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for regulation is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌɹɛɡjʊˈleɪʃən/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,781 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for regulation, with forms such as "ergulation", "reggulation", and "regluation". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "relation", "regulator", "reputation", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From regulate + -ion. The correct English form is regulation, spelled R-E-G-U-L-A-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1The act of regulating or the condition of being regulated.
- 2A law or administrative rule, issued by an organization, used to guide or prescribe the conduct of members of that organization.
- 3A type of law made by the executive branch of a government, usually as authorized by a statute made by the legislative branch giving the executive the authority to do so.
- 4A type of law made by the executive branch of a government, usually as authorized by a statute made by the legislative branch giving the executive the authority to do so.
- 5A form of legislative act which is self-effecting, and requires no further intervention by the Member States to become law.
- 6Mechanism controlling DNA transcription.
- 7Physiological process which consists in maintaining homoeostasis.
Etymology
From regulate + -ion.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ergulation,reggulation,regluation,regualtion,regulaiton,regulasion,regulatino,regulationn,regulatoin,regulattion,regullation,regultaion,reuglation,rgeulation,rregulation
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of regulation - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “regulation”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-G-U-L-A-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌɹɛɡjʊˈleɪʃən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “relation” - see the side-by-side comparison. regulation vs relation
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.