initiation

\i.ni.sja.sjɔ̃\

/\i.ni.sja.sjɔ̃\/ noun

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

The verdict

“initiation” has 13 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #11,426. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#11,426
frequency rank, French
3,561
“I” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Admission à la connaissance de certaines choses secrètes.

Corpus desk

Index FR-initiation · initiation · French

initiation · rank #11,426 · 13 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #11,426
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,561
  • PHOTO-FINISH individuellem…

Nearest frequency peer: individuellement (-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 « initiation »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « initiation » 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).

initiation vs initiative
80% similar
initiation vs invitation
80% similar
initiation vs instigation
82% similar

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

Key facts for initiation
PropertyValue
Headwordinitiation
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\i.ni.sja.sjɔ̃\
Letters10
Frequency rank#11,426
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « initiation »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).initiationse 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 « individuellement » (#11,425), « insérer » (#11,427), « impunité » (#11,424). Parmi 3,561 lemmes en « I », « initiation » est au #11,426. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around initiation (IPA \i.ni.sja.sjɔ̃\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #11,426 among 3,561 “I” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for initiation, with forms such as "iintiation", "iniitation", and "initaition". 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, "initiative", "invitation", "instigation", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is initiation, spelled I-N-I-T-I-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Admission à la connaissance de certaines choses secrètes.
  2. 2
    Cérémonie par laquelle on était initié à la connaissance et à la participation de certains mystères chez les païens et qui se pratique encore dans les sociétés secrètes.
  3. 3
    Connaissance préliminaire d’une science, d’une profession, d’un art.
  4. 4
    Phénomène par lequel une enzyme permet le déclenchement d’une réaction chimique.
  5. 5
    Première phase de la transcription, comportant une fixation spécifique de l’ARN polymérase sur le promoteur de gène à transcrire, et la formation de la première liaison nucléo-protidique.
  6. 6
    Première phase de la traduction, comportant une fixation du ribosome sur un site spécifique de l’ARN messager, sa mise en place sur le codon d’initiation et la formation de la première liaison peptidique.
  7. 7
    Amorçage d'un processus.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Les cérémonies d’initiation.
  2. Initiation à la philosophie, à la chimie.

This word in other languages

initiation(English)iniciación(Español)Initiierung(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • iintiation
  • iniitation
  • initaition
  • initiaiton
  • initiatino
  • initiationn
  • initiatoin
  • initiattion
  • inititaion
  • inittiation
  • innitiation
  • intiiation
  • niitiation

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of initiation - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

iintiation2iniitation2initaition2initiaiton2initiatino2initiationn1initiatoin2initiattion1
Edit distance from "initiation"

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 "initiation"?
"initiation" is spelled I-N-I-T-I-A-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is \i.ni.sja.sjɔ̃\.
What does "initiation" mean?
As a noun, "initiation" means: Admission à la connaissance de certaines choses secrètes.
What words are commonly confused with "initiation"?
"initiation" is commonly confused with "initiative", "invitation", "instigation". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "initiation"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "initiation" is \i.ni.sja.sjɔ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "initiation" come from?
"initiation" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "initiation", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

générateur#11,420mentionnés#11,437providence#11,462prévisible#11,464

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

inégalité13 variantslongueurs13 variantsmutations13 variantsenseignes13 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list