English Word Reference Free

relationship

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

Letters

12 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

open dictionary

Access

Free

no sign-up needed

Detailed reference entry for the English word "relationship", 12-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 "relationship" 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 "relationship" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

relationship is aEnglishnoun. It means: Connection or association; the condition of being related. Pronounced /ɹɪˈleɪʃ(ə)nˌʃɪp/. It ranks #740 in English word frequency.

Compare similar words

See how relationship compares against similar English words.

Browse all word comparisons →
Key facts for relationship
PropertyValue
Headwordrelationship
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɹɪˈleɪʃ(ə)nˌʃɪp/
Letters12
Frequency rank#740
Misspellings tracked18
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

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

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for relationship is 12 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹɪˈleɪʃ(ə)nˌʃɪp/. Corpus data places it at rank #740 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 18 documented wrong-spelling variants for relationship, with forms such as "erlationship", "realtionship", and "relaitonship". 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 is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From relation + -ship. 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 relationship, spelled R-E-L-A-T-I-O-N-S-H-I-P, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Connection or association; the condition of being related.
  2. 2
    The links between the x-values and y-values of ordered pairs of numbers especially coordinates.
  3. 3
    Kinship; being related by blood or marriage.
  4. 4
    A romantic or sexual involvement.
  5. 5
    A way in which two or more people behave and are involved with each other
  6. 6
    The level or degree of affinity between keys, chords and tones.

Etymology

From relation + -ship.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: erlationship,realtionship,relaitonship,relatinoship,relationhsip,relationnship,relationshhip,relationshipp,relationshpi,relationsihp,relationsship,relatiosnhip,relatoinship,relattionship,rellationship,reltaionship,rleationship,rrelationship

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for relationship

Misspelling Variants of "relationship"

erlationship12realtionship12relaitonship12relatinoship12relationhsip12relationnship13relationshhip13relationshipp13
Misspelling Variants of "relationship"

Frequency rank: #740 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "relationship"?
"relationship" is spelled R-E-L-A-T-I-O-N-S-H-I-P. The IPA pronunciation is /ɹɪˈleɪʃ(ə)nˌʃɪp/.
What does "relationship" mean?
As a noun, "relationship" means: Connection or association; the condition of being related.
What are common misspellings of "relationship"?
Common misspellings include "erlationship", "realtionship", "relaitonship", "relatinoship", "relationhsip". The correct spelling is "relationship".
How do you pronounce "relationship"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "relationship" is /ɹɪˈleɪʃ(ə)nˌʃɪp/. 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 "relationship"?
From relation + -ship. 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:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.