traversal

noun

"traversal" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“traversal” is uncommon English (frequency #66,360 among 27,828 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#66,360
frequency rank, English
27,828
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The act of traversing; a crossing.

Key facts for traversal
PropertyValue
Headwordtraversal
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters9
Frequency rank#66,360
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “traversal” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). traversal lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

traversal is uncommon English at frequency #66,360 among 27,828 “T” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for traversal in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From traverse + -al. The correct English form is traversal, spelled T-R-A-V-E-R-S-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act of traversing; a crossing.
  2. 2
    The product or result of traversing.
  3. 3
    The act of following a path or route.

Etymology

From traverse + -al.

This word in other languages

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 "traversal"?
"traversal" is spelled T-R-A-V-E-R-S-A-L.
What does "traversal" mean?
As a noun, "traversal" means: The act of traversing; a crossing.
What is the origin of the word "traversal"?
From traverse + -al. 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.

Using “traversal”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is T-R-A-V-E-R-S-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list