initiation
\i.ni.sja.sjɔ̃\
The verdict
“initiation” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #11,426 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #11,426
- frequency rank, French
- 10
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 6
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Admission à la connaissance de certaines choses secrètes.
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 | initiation |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \i.ni.sja.sjɔ̃\ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #11,426 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 6 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “initiation” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for initiation is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \i.ni.sja.sjɔ̃\. Corpus data places it at rank #11,426 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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
- 1Admission à la connaissance de certaines choses secrètes.
- 2Cérémonie 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.
- 3Connaissance préliminaire d’une science, d’une profession, d’un art.
- 4Phénomène par lequel une enzyme permet le déclenchement d’une réaction chimique.
- 5Première 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.
- 6Première 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.
- 7Amorçage d'un processus.
This word in other languages
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.
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
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Using “initiation”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is I-N-I-T-I-A-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \i.ni.sja.sjɔ̃\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “initiative” - see the side-by-side comparison. initiation vs initiative
- 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.