remission
/ɹɪˈmɪʃ(ə)n/
"remission" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“remission” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #22,790 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #22,790
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A pardon of a sin; (chiefly historical, also figuratively) the forgiveness of an offence, or relinquishment of a (legal) claim or a debt.
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 | remission |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɹɪˈmɪʃ(ə)n/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #22,790 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “remission” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for remission is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹɪˈmɪʃ(ə)n/. Corpus data places it at rank #22,790 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for remission, with forms such as "ermission", "reimssion", and "remision". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "revision", "recession", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English remissioun (“release from duty; freeing of captives; mercy, pardon, respite; forgiveness; release from or reduction of penances; reduction in intensity (of a quality, symptom, etc.); transfer of property, quitclaim; legal opinion or subm… The correct English form is remission, spelled R-E-M-I-S-S-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1A pardon of a sin; (chiefly historical, also figuratively) the forgiveness of an offence, or relinquishment of a (legal) claim or a debt.
- 2A lessening of amount due, as in either money or work, or intensity of a thing.
- 3A lessening of amount due, as in either money or work, or intensity of a thing.
- 4A lessening of amount due, as in either money or work, or intensity of a thing.
- 5An act of remitting, returning, or sending back.
- 6An act of remitting, returning, or sending back.
- 7Reflection or back-scattering of light by a material; (to send back)
Etymology
From Middle English remissioun (“release from duty; freeing of captives; mercy, pardon, respite; forgiveness; release from or reduction of penances; reduction in intensity (of a quality, symptom, etc.); transfer of property, quitclaim; legal opinion or submission; reference, cross-reference”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman remission, remissione, remissioun, remissiun and Middle French, Old French remission (“forgiveness of sin; pardoning of an offence; postponement; cessation, suspension; diminishing or weakening of something; reduction of debt; reduction in intensity of a disease or symptom”) (modern French rémission), and their etymon Late Latin remissiō (“forgiveness; pardon of sins”), Latin remissiō (“release; sending back; easing off, relaxing, softening; reduction of debt; reduction in intensity of a disease or symptom”), from remittō (“to remit, send back; to diminish; to relax; to do without, forego”) + -siō. Remittō is derived from re- (prefix meaning ‘back, backwards’) + mittō (“to cause to go; to send; to discharge, emit, let go, release; to throw; to extend, reach out; to announce, tell; to produce, yield; to attend, escort, guide; to dismiss, disregard; to end”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- (“to change, exchange; to change places, go past”) or *(s)meyt- (“to throw”)). The English word is cognate with Catalan remissió, Italian remissioni, remissione (“remission; withdrawal of legal action; compliance, submission”), Old Occitan remessió, Portuguese remisson, remissão (“pardon; remission”), Spanish remisión (“remission”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ermission,reimssion,remision,remisison,remissino,remissionn,remissoin,remistion,remmission,remsision,rmeission,rremission
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of remission - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "remission"?
What does "remission" mean?
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Using “remission”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-M-I-S-S-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɹɪˈmɪʃ(ə)n/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “revision” - see the side-by-side comparison. remission vs revision
- 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.