Calibration

How to spell calibration

11 letters · 4 syllables

8 of the 28 people asked to spell calibration in Spelling Garden got it wrong the first time.

The most common mistake is callibration. The letters people get wrong are highlighted.

callibration calibration

What people typed instead

• callibration3 people

How to pronounce calibration

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does calibration mean?

1. nounThe process of checking or adjusting a measuring instrument against a known standard so that its readings are accurate.

Calibration in a sentence

• The laboratory scales need regular calibration to stay accurate.

• A technician performed the annual calibration on every pressure gauge.

Where does calibration come from?

Language of origin: French

The word traces back through the verb 'calibrate' to the noun 'calibre', which originally meant the internal diameter of a gun barrel or the size of a bullet. English took 'calibre' from French in the late 1500s, and the French in turn most likely borrowed it from the Arabic 'qalib', meaning a 'mould' or 'form' used to shape something to an exact size. From the idea of measuring the bore of a barrel, the sense broadened to mean checking and adjusting any instrument against a known standard. The verb 'calibrate' was coined in the nineteenth century, and 'calibration' followed as its action noun. The spelling trap lives in the unstressed middle: the schwa vowel in 'cal-i-bra-tion' is easy to drop or to misspell as an 'e', so it helps to recall the parent word 'calibre'.

How the word is built

• calibr- (from calibre: the bore or diameter of a tube)
• -ate (verb)
• -ion (noun of action)