Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell dissertation

Dissertation is spelled D-I-S-S-E-R-T-A-T-I-O-N. The part people get wrong: double S.

hear itdis·ser·ta·tion/,dɪsər'teɪʃən/nounSchwa and roots

What it means: A treatise advancing a new point of view from research.

In a sentence: The student worked hard on her dissertation about animals.

The part people get wrong

Watch for double s, and an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear.

Same family: dissertate, thesis, paper, research, doctoral. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Dissertation” comes from Latin *dissertatio*, meaning “discussion” or “discourse.” In early universities, it referred to a formal written discussion on a topic, which evolved into the modern long research paper required for advanced degrees.

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