religion

/ɹɪˈlɪd͡ʒ.ən/

//ɹɪˈlɪd͡ʒ.ən// noun

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

"religion" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“religion” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,877. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,877
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Belief in a spiritual or metaphysical reality (often including at least one deity), accompanied by practices or rituals pertaining to the belief.

Corpus desk

Index EN-religion · religion · English

religion · rank #1,877 · 11 variants · 5 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,877
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 5 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH reference

Nearest frequency peer: reference (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “religion”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “religion” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

religion vs revision
75% similar
religion vs religious
78% similar
religion vs religions
89% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for religion
PropertyValue
Headwordreligion
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɹɪˈlɪd͡ʒ.ən/
Letters8
Frequency rank#1,877
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “religion”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).religionlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “reference” (#1,876), “sites” (#1,878), “prepared” (#1,875). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “religion” is #1,877. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around religion (IPA /ɹɪˈlɪd͡ʒ.ən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,877 among 3,094 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for religion, with forms such as "erligion", "reilgion", and "relgiion". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "revision", "religious", "religions", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English religioun, from Old French religion, from Latin religiō (“scrupulousness, pious misgivings, superstition, conscientiousness, sanctity, an object of veneration, cult-observance, reverence”). Most likely from the Proto-Indo-European *h₂leg… The correct English form is religion, spelled R-E-L-I-G-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Belief in a spiritual or metaphysical reality (often including at least one deity), accompanied by practices or rituals pertaining to the belief.
  2. 2
    A particular system of such belief, and the rituals and practices proper to it.
  3. 3
    The way of life committed to by monks and nuns.
  4. 4
    Rituals and actions associated with religious beliefs, but considered apart from them.
  5. 5
    Any practice to which someone or some group is seriously devoted.
  6. 6
    Faithfulness to a given principle; conscientiousness.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Holonyms: cosmology, ontology, epistemology, philosophy
  2. My brother tends to value religion, but my sister not as much.

Etymology

From Middle English religioun, from Old French religion, from Latin religiō (“scrupulousness, pious misgivings, superstition, conscientiousness, sanctity, an object of veneration, cult-observance, reverence”). Most likely from the Proto-Indo-European *h₂leg- with the meanings preserved in Latin dīligere and legere (“to read repeatedly”, “to have something solely in mind”). Displaced Old English ǣfæstnes (“religion, lawfulness”).

Synonyms

faithreligion

This word in other languages

religión(Español)religion(Français)Religion(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • erligion
  • reilgion
  • relgiion
  • religgion
  • religino
  • religionn
  • religoin
  • reliigon
  • relligion
  • rleigion
  • rreligion

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of religion - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

erligion2reilgion2relgiion2religgion1religino2religionn1religoin2reliigon2
Edit distance from "religion"

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 "religion"?
"religion" is spelled R-E-L-I-G-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ɹɪˈlɪd͡ʒ.ən/.
What does "religion" mean?
As a noun, "religion" means: Belief in a spiritual or metaphysical reality (often including at least one deity), accompanied by practices or rituals pertaining to the belief.
What words are commonly confused with "religion"?
"religion" is commonly confused with "revision", "religious", "religions". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "religion"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "religion" is /ɹɪˈlɪd͡ʒ.ən/. 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 "religion"?
From Middle English religioun, from Old French religion, from Latin religiō (“scrupulousness, pious misgivings, superstition, conscientiousness, sanctity, an object of veneration, cult-observance, reverence”). Most likely from the Proto-Indo-Europ... 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 "religion", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

prepared#1,875strategy#1,881teachers#1,882accounts#1,885

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

magazine11 variantsaudience11 variantsmedicine11 variantsmention11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list