volition
/vəˈlɪʃ(ə)n/
"volition" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“volition” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #36,008 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #36,008
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A conscious choice or decision.
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 | volition |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /vəˈlɪʃ(ə)n/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #36,008 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “volition” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for volition is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /vəˈlɪʃ(ə)n/. Corpus data places it at rank #36,008 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 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 volition, with forms such as "ovlition", "vloition", and "voiltion". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "vocation", "violation", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French volition, from Medieval Latin volitiō (“will, volition”), from Latin volō (“to wish; to want; to mean or intend”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“to choose; to want”)) + -tiō (suffix forming nouns relating to some action or the re… The correct English form is volition, spelled V-O-L-I-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1A conscious choice or decision.
- 2The mental power or ability of choosing; the will.
- 3A concept that distinguishes whether or not the subject or agent intended something.
Etymology
From French volition, from Medieval Latin volitiō (“will, volition”), from Latin volō (“to wish; to want; to mean or intend”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“to choose; to want”)) + -tiō (suffix forming nouns relating to some action or the result of an action) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *-tis (suffix forming abstract or action nouns from verbs)).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ovlition,vloition,voiltion,voliiton,volision,volitino,volitionn,volitoin,volittion,vollition,voltiion,vvolition
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of volition - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "volition"?
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Using “volition”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is V-O-L-I-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /vəˈlɪʃ(ə)n/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “vocation” - see the side-by-side comparison. volition vs vocation
- 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.