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union

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

Letters

5 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "union", 5-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 "union" 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 "union" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

union is aEnglishnoun. It means: The act of uniting or joining two or more things into one. Pronounced /ˈjuː.njən/. It ranks #890 in English word frequency. Often confused with uno and upon.

Key facts for union
PropertyValue
Headwordunion
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈjuː.njən/
Letters5
Frequency rank#890
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs18
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

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

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for union is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈjuː.njən/. Corpus data places it at rank #890 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 12 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 6 documented wrong-spelling variants for union, with forms such as "nuion", "uinon", and "unino". 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 also participates in 18 confusable-pair relationships, "uno", "upon", "unit", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English unyoun, from Old French union, from Late Latin ūniō, ūniōnem (“oneness, unity”), from Latin ūnus (“one”). Doublet of unio. 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 union, spelled U-N-I-O-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act of uniting or joining two or more things into one.
  2. 2
    The state of being united or joined; a state of unity or harmony.
  3. 3
    Something united, or made one; something formed by a combination or coalition of parts or members; a confederation; a consolidated body; a league.
  4. 4
    A trade union; a workers' union.
  5. 5
    An association of students at a university for social and/or political purposes; also in some cases a debating body.
  6. 6
    A joint or other connection uniting parts of machinery, such as pipes.
  7. 7
    The set containing all of the elements of two or more sets.
  8. 8
    The act or state of marriage.
  9. 9
    Sexual intercourse.
  10. 10
    A data structure that can store any of various types of item, but only one at a time.
  11. 11
    A large, high-quality pearl.
  12. 12
    An affiliation of several parishes for joint support and management of their poor; also the jointly-owned workhouse.

Etymology

From Middle English unyoun, from Old French union, from Late Latin ūniō, ūniōnem (“oneness, unity”), from Latin ūnus (“one”). Doublet of unio.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: nuion,uinon,unino,unionn,unnion,unoin

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for union

Misspelling Variants of "union"

nuion5uinon5unino5unionn6unnion6unoin5
Misspelling Variants of "union"

Frequency rank: #890 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "union"?
"union" is spelled U-N-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈjuː.njən/.
What does "union" mean?
As a noun, "union" means: The act of uniting or joining two or more things into one.
What words are commonly confused with "union"?
"union" is commonly confused with "uno", "upon", "unit". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "union"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "union" is /ˈjuː.njən/. 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 "union"?
From Middle English unyoun, from Old French union, from Late Latin ūniō, ūniōnem (“oneness, unity”), from Latin ūnus (“one”). Doublet of unio. 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 U in our English index:

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