account

/əˈkaʊnt/

//əˈkaʊnt// noun

"account" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“account” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #616 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#616
frequency rank, English
7
letters
8
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A registry of pecuniary transactions; a written or printed statement of business dealings or debts and credits, and also of other things subjected to a reckoning or review.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

account vs amount
71% similar
account vs accounts
88% similar
account vs accounted
78% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for account
PropertyValue
Headwordaccount
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/əˈkaʊnt/
Letters7
Frequency rank#616
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “account” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). account lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for account is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈkaʊnt/. Corpus data places it at rank #616 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for account, with forms such as "acconut", "accounnt", and "accountt". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "amount", "accounts", "accounted", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Old French a- Proto-Indo-European *ḱe Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin con- Latin com- Proto-Italic *putos Latin putus? Proto-Indo-Europ… The correct English form is account, spelled A-C-C-O-U-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A registry of pecuniary transactions; a written or printed statement of business dealings or debts and credits, and also of other things subjected to a reckoning or review.
  2. 2
    A bank account.
  3. 3
    A statement in general of reasons, causes, grounds, etc., explanatory of some event; a reason of an action to be done.
  4. 4
    A reason, grounds, consideration, motive; a person's sake.
  5. 5
    A record of events; a relation or narrative.
  6. 6
    An estimate or estimation; valuation; judgment.
  7. 7
    Importance; worth; value; esteem; judgement.
  8. 8
    Authorization as a specific registered user in accessing a system.
  9. 9
    A reckoning; computation; calculation; enumeration; a record of some reckoning.
  10. 10
    Profit; advantage.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Old French a- Proto-Indo-European *ḱe Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin con- Latin com- Proto-Italic *putos Latin putus? Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin putō Latin computō Old French conter Old French aconter Anglo-Norman acuntebor. Middle English acounte English account From Middle English acounte, from Anglo-Norman acunte (“account”), from Old French aconte, from aconter (“to reckon”), from Latin computō (“to sum up”).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: acconut,accounnt,accountt,accoutn,accuont,acocunt,acount,cacount

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of account - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

acconut2accounnt1accountt1accoutn2accuont2acocunt2acount1cacount2
Edit distance from "account"

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

How do you spell "account"?
"account" is spelled A-C-C-O-U-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈkaʊnt/.
What does "account" mean?
As a noun, "account" means: A registry of pecuniary transactions; a written or printed statement of business dealings or debts and credits, and also of other things subjected to a reckoning or review.
What words are commonly confused with "account"?
"account" is commonly confused with "amount", "accounts", "accounted". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "account"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "account" is /əˈkaʊnt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "account"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Old French a- Proto-Indo-European *ḱe Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin con- Latin com- Proto-Italic *putos Latin putus? Proto-... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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.

Using “account”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is A-C-C-O-U-N-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /əˈkaʊnt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “amount” - see the side-by-side comparison. account vs amount
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list