ion

\jɔ̃\

/\jɔ̃\/ noun

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

The verdict

“ion” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #14,064 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#14,064
frequency rank, French
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Atome ou molécule ayant perdu ou gagné des électrons sur sa couche externe.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

ion vs it
33% similar
ion vs IP
0% similar
ion vs ix
33% similar

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

Key facts for ion
PropertyValue
Headwordion
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\jɔ̃\
Letters3
Frequency rank#14,064
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “ion” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). ion lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for ion is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \jɔ̃\. Corpus data places it at rank #14,064 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Atome ou molécule ayant perdu ou gagné des électrons sur sa couche externe.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for ion in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "it", "IP", "ix", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is ion, spelled I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Atome ou molécule ayant perdu ou gagné des électrons sur sa couche externe.

This word in other languages

ion(English)ión(Español)Ion(Deutsch)íon(Português)

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 "ion"?
"ion" is spelled I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is \jɔ̃\.
What does "ion" mean?
As a noun, "ion" means: Atome ou molécule ayant perdu ou gagné des électrons sur sa couche externe.
What words are commonly confused with "ion"?
"ion" is commonly confused with "it", "IP", "ix". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ion"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ion" is \jɔ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ion" come from?
"ion" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Using “ion”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \jɔ̃\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “it” - see the side-by-side comparison. ion vs it
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list