English homophones
spec/speck
"spec" (#13,245 written frequency) beats "speck" (#28,382) in this 2-word /ˈspɛk/ cluster. Size rank #133 of 1,007 English groups.
Data vintage
Frequency splits the cluster
These 2 spellings keep the same /ˈspɛk/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "spec" leads at #13,245, with "speck" trailing at #28,382.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- Shared stem "spec" then splits - "spec" (4 letters) vs "speck" (5).
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across spec, speck: ceps. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
spec
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CCVC
Inventory ceps · no private letters vs siblings
speck
5 letters · 1 vowels · shape CCVCC
Inventory cekps · private k
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "spec" when you mean: Clipping of specification.
- Write "speck" when you mean: A tiny spot or particle, especially of dirt.
Known mistypes of these spellings
Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.
Each spelling
Nearby English homophone groups
What to do next
You've reviewed the 2-spelling cluster (spec, speck). Here's where to go from here.
- "spec" is the most frequent headword in this 2-spelling cluster (rank #13,245 in English). Full entry
- Among English homophone groups, a cluster of 2 spellings ranks #133 by size (1,007 groups in this vintage). Corpus statistics
- Explore a nearby 2-spelling cluster: stare · stair. Nearby cluster
- Each spelling in "spec, speck" has its own headword page with definition, IPA, and misspelling variants. First entry
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.