imitation

\i.mi.ta.sjɔ̃\

/\i.mi.ta.sjɔ̃\/ noun

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

The verdict

“imitation” has 12 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #11,981. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#11,981
frequency rank, French
3,561
“I” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Action d’imiter ou résultat de cette action.

Corpus desk

Index FR-imitation · imitation · French

imitation · rank #11,981 · 12 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #11,981
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,561
  • PHOTO-FINISH illégalement

Nearest frequency peer: illégalement (-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 « imitation »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « imitation » 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).

imitation vs invitation
80% similar
imitation vs initiation
80% similar
imitation vs incitation
80% similar

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

Key facts for imitation
PropertyValue
Headwordimitation
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\i.mi.ta.sjɔ̃\
Letters9
Frequency rank#11,981
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « imitation »

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

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « illégalement » (#11,980), « inconvénient » (#11,982), « ignoré » (#11,979). Parmi 3,561 lemmes en « I », « imitation » est au #11,981. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around imitation (IPA \i.mi.ta.sjɔ̃\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #11,981 among 3,561 “I” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for imitation, with forms such as "iimtation", "imiattion", and "imitaiton". 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 6 confusable-pair relationships, "invitation", "initiation", "incitation", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is imitation, spelled I-M-I-T-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Action d’imiter ou résultat de cette action.
  2. 2
    Ouvrage où l’on s’est proposé d’en imiter d’autres.
  3. 3
    Ouvrage d’orfèvrerie et de bijouterie où l’on imite, mais sans intention de fraude, l’or, l’argent, les pierres précieuses, l’écaille, l’ivoire, etc.
  4. 4
    Composition où un thème ou motif est répété avec différentes variations. Elle est notamment utilisée dans le contrepoint.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Le palier est long et étroit, le mur est tendu d’une imitation de tapisserie à ramages vert sombre où brille le cuivre d’une applique à gaz.
  2. Sont vains également les efforts tentés par tant de savants pour trouver dans le passé des institutions à imiter, qui seraient capables de discipliner leurs contemporains : l’imitation n'a jamais donné grand'chose de bon et a souvent engendré beaucoup de déboires; […].

Synonyms

copiepasticheapprentissage

This word in other languages

imitation(English)Nachahmung(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • iimtation
  • imiattion
  • imitaiton
  • imitatino
  • imitationn
  • imitatoin
  • imitattion
  • imittaion
  • imittation
  • immitation
  • imtiation
  • miitation

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of imitation - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

iimtation2imiattion2imitaiton2imitatino2imitationn1imitatoin2imitattion1imittaion2
Edit distance from "imitation"

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 "imitation"?
"imitation" is spelled I-M-I-T-A-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is \i.mi.ta.sjɔ̃\.
What does "imitation" mean?
As a noun, "imitation" means: Action d’imiter ou résultat de cette action.
What words are commonly confused with "imitation"?
"imitation" is commonly confused with "invitation", "initiation", "incitation". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "imitation"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "imitation" is \i.mi.ta.sjɔ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "imitation" come from?
"imitation" 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 "imitation", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

inscrivez#11,984lentilles#11,991mensuelle#11,995entourant#11,963

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

grenouille12 variantsmâchoire12 variantsembauché12 variantsdérouler12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list