accident
/ˈæk.sɪ.dənt/
"accident" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“accident” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,979 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #1,979
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An unexpected event with negative consequences occurring without the intention of the one suffering the consequences, and (in the strict sense) not directly caused by humans.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | accident |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈæk.sɪ.dənt/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #1,979 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “accident” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for accident is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈæk.sɪ.dənt/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,979 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 14 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for accident, with forms such as "accdient", "acciddent", and "accidennt". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "ancient", "accidental", "accidently", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Proto-Indo-European *ḱh₂d-der. Proto-Italic *kadō Latin cadō Latin accidō Latin accidēns Old French accidentbor. Middle English accident English accident First attested in… The correct English form is accident, spelled A-C-C-I-D-E-N-T.
Definition
- 1An unexpected event with negative consequences occurring without the intention of the one suffering the consequences, and (in the strict sense) not directly caused by humans.
- 2An unexpected event with negative consequences occurring without the intention of the one suffering the consequences, and (in the strict sense) not directly caused by humans.
- 3A collision or crash of a vehicle, aircraft, or other form of transportation that causes damage to the transportation involved; and sometimes injury or death to the transportation's occupants or bystanders in close proximity. (but see Usage notes)
- 4Any chance event.
- 5Chance; random chance.
- 6Any property, fact, or relation that is the result of chance or is nonessential or nonsubstantive.
- 7Any property, fact, or relation that is the result of chance or is nonessential or nonsubstantive.
- 8An instance of incontinence.
- 9An instance of incontinence.
- 10An unintended pregnancy.
- 11An unintended pregnancy.
- 12An irregular surface feature with no apparent cause.
- 13A sudden discontinuity of ground such as fault of great thickness, bed or lentil of unstable ground.
- 14A point or mark which may be retained or omitted in a coat of arms.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Proto-Indo-European *ḱh₂d-der. Proto-Italic *kadō Latin cadō Latin accidō Latin accidēns Old French accidentbor. Middle English accident English accident First attested in the late 14th century. From Middle English accident, from Old French accident, from Latin accidēns, present active participle of accidō (“happen”); from ad (“to”) + cadō (“fall”). See cadence, case. In the sense “unintended pregnancy”, first attested in 1932.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: accdient,acciddent,accidennt,accidentt,accidetn,accidnet,acciednt,acicdent,acident,cacident
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of accident - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “accident”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-C-C-I-D-E-N-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈæk.sɪ.dənt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “ancient” - see the side-by-side comparison. accident vs ancient
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English 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.