approximation

\a.pʁɔk.si.ma.sjɔ̃\

/\a.pʁɔk.si.ma.sjɔ̃\/ noun

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

The verdict

“approximation” has 17 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #21,851. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#21,851
frequency rank, French
6,727
“A” headwords
17
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Estimation par à peu près, où l’on se contente d’approcher de la vérité sans s’attacher à une exactitude rigoureuse.

Corpus desk

Index FR-approximation · approximation · French

approximation · rank #21,851 · 17 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #21,851
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 17 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,727
  • PHOTO-FINISH applaudi

Nearest frequency peer: applaudi (-1 rank slots)

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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « approximation »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « approximation » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

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).

approximation vs approximative
85% similar
approximation vs approximations
93% similar
approximation vs approximatif
85% similar

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

Key facts for approximation
PropertyValue
Headwordapproximation
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\a.pʁɔk.si.ma.sjɔ̃\
Letters13
Frequency rank#21,851
Misspellings tracked17
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « approximation »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).approximationse place ici:

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « applaudi » (#21,850), « argenté » (#21,852), « apparaissant » (#21,849). Parmi 6,727 lemmes en « A », « approximation » est au #21,851. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 17 spelling variants around approximation (IPA \a.pʁɔk.si.ma.sjɔ̃\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #21,851 among 6,727 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for approximation, with forms such as "apporximation", "approixmation", and "approxiamtion". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "approximative", "approximations", "approximatif", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is approximation, spelled A-P-P-R-O-X-I-M-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Estimation par à peu près, où l’on se contente d’approcher de la vérité sans s’attacher à une exactitude rigoureuse.
  2. 2
    Mode d’articulation consonantique caractérisé par un resserrement du canal vocal sans compression de l’air, de manière à ne produire aucune impression auditive de friction.
  3. 3
    Procédure permettant de calculer une valeur approchée d’un nombre, par exemple en arrondissant.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Je ne vous demande qu’une approximation, une simple approximation.
  2. Ce plan de la gare n’est pas tout à fait exact parce que j’avais peur, alors je ne faisais pas très attention aux choses, c’est seulement ce dont je me souviens, donc c’est une approximation.

This word in other languages

approximation(English)aproximación(Español)Annäherung(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • apporximation
  • approixmation
  • approxiamtion
  • approximaiton
  • approximatino
  • approximationn
  • approximatoin
  • approximattion
  • approximmation
  • approximtaion
  • approxmiation
  • approxximation
  • apprroximation
  • apprxoimation
  • aproximation
  • aprpoximation
  • paproximation

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of approximation - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

apporximation2approixmation2approxiamtion2approximaiton2approximatino2approximationn1approximatoin2approximattion1
Edit distance from "approximation"

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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "approximation"?
"approximation" is spelled A-P-P-R-O-X-I-M-A-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is \a.pʁɔk.si.ma.sjɔ̃\.
What does "approximation" mean?
As a noun, "approximation" means: Estimation par à peu près, où l’on se contente d’approcher de la vérité sans s’attacher à une exactitude rigoureuse.
What words are commonly confused with "approximation"?
"approximation" is commonly confused with "approximative", "approximations", "approximatif". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "approximation"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "approximation" is \a.pʁɔk.si.ma.sjɔ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "approximation" come from?
"approximation" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "approximation", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 13 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

dédommagement#21,920socialisation#21,772réfrigérateur#21,760participative#21,720

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (17 here; floor ≥5).

descendante17 variantsséparatiste17 variantsraccordement17 variantsinsuffisants17 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list