preparation

\ˌpɹɛp.ə.ˈɹeɪ.ʃən\

/\ˌpɹɛp.ə.ˈɹeɪ.ʃən\/ noun

The verdict

“preparation” is uncommon French (frequency #51,672 among 6,826 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#51,672
frequency rank, French
6,826
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Préparatif.

Corpus desk

Index FR-preparation · preparation · French

preparation · rank #51,672 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #51,672
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,826
  • PHOTO-FINISH PPs

Nearest frequency peer: PPs (-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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « preparation »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « preparation » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for preparation
PropertyValue
Headwordpreparation
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ˌpɹɛp.ə.ˈɹeɪ.ʃən\
Letters11
Frequency rank#51,672
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « preparation » en français

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).preparationtombe dans cette queue de rareté:

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Voisins rares de la même bande: « PPs » (#51,671), « princeps » (#51,673), « postmoderne » (#51,670). Parmi 6,826 lemmes en « P », « preparation » est au #51,672. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

preparation is uncommon French at frequency #51,672 among 6,826 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ˌpɹɛp.ə.ˈɹeɪ.ʃən\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

preparation doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is preparation, spelled P-R-E-P-A-R-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Préparatif.
  2. 2
    Préparation.

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 "preparation"?
"preparation" is spelled P-R-E-P-A-R-A-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is \ˌpɹɛp.ə.ˈɹeɪ.ʃən\.
What does "preparation" mean?
As a noun, "preparation" means: Préparatif.
How do you pronounce "preparation"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "preparation" is \ˌpɹɛp.ə.ˈɹeɪ.ʃən\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "preparation" come from?
"preparation" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "preparation", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list