advance
/ədˈvɑːns/
"advance" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“advance” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,241 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #2,241
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To promote or advantage.
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 | advance |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ədˈvɑːns/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #2,241 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “advance” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for advance is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ədˈvɑːns/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,241 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 13 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for advance, with forms such as "adavnce", "addvance", and "advacne". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "advice", "advanced", "advances", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó Proto-Italic *ap Latin ab Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₂énts Proto-Indo-European *-i Proto-Indo-European *h₂énti Proto-Italic *anti Latin ante Late Latin ab ante Proto-In… The correct English form is advance, spelled A-D-V-A-N-C-E.
Definition
- 1To promote or advantage.
- 2To promote or advantage.
- 3To move forward in space or time.
- 4To move forward in space or time.
- 5To move forward in space or time.
- 6To move forward in space or time.
- 7To move forward in space or time.
- 8To move forward in space or time.
- 9To move forward in space or time.
- 10To raise, be raised.
- 11To raise, be raised.
- 12To raise, be raised.
- 13To raise, be raised.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó Proto-Italic *ap Latin ab Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₂énts Proto-Indo-European *-i Proto-Indo-European *h₂énti Proto-Italic *anti Latin ante Late Latin ab ante Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Vulgar Latin *abanteāre Old French avancierbor. Middle English avauncen English advance From Middle English avauncen, avancen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman avauncier, from Vulgar Latin *abanteāre, from Late Latin ab ante, from Latin ab + ante (“before”). ⟨d⟩ added in analogy to Latin ad- (cf. Middle French advancer). Compare avaunt.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: adavnce,addvance,advacne,advancce,advanec,advannce,advence,advnace,advvance,avdance,davance
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of advance - 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 “advance”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-D-V-A-N-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ədˈvɑːns/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “advice” - see the side-by-side comparison. advance vs advice
- 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.