extinction
\ɛk.stɛ̃k.sjɔ̃\
The verdict
“extinction” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #8,851 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #8,851
- frequency rank, French
- 10
- letters
- 15
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Action d’éteindre ou état de ce qui s’éteint, de ce qui est éteint.
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 | extinction |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ɛk.stɛ̃k.sjɔ̃\ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #8,851 |
| Misspellings tracked | 15 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “extinction” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for extinction is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ɛk.stɛ̃k.sjɔ̃\. Corpus data places it at rank #8,851 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for extinction, with forms such as "etxinction", "exitnction", and "exticntion". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "extraction", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is extinction, spelled E-X-T-I-N-C-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1Action d’éteindre ou état de ce qui s’éteint, de ce qui est éteint.
- 2État de la chaux quand elle cesse d’être vive par hydratation.
- 3Épuisement, lassitude.
- 4Action d'abolir, d'anéantir, de mettre fin.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: etxinction,exitnction,exticntion,extincction,extinciton,extinctino,extinctionn,extinctoin,extincttion,extinnction,extintcion,extniction,exttinction,exxtinction,xetinction
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of extinction - 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.
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 "extinction"?
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Using “extinction”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is E-X-T-I-N-C-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ɛk.stɛ̃k.sjɔ̃\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “extraction” - see the side-by-side comparison. extinction vs extraction
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French 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.