English Word Reference Free

ais

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

3 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

open dictionary

Access

Free

no sign-up needed

Detailed reference entry for the English word "ais", 3-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "ais" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "ais" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

AIS is aEnglishnoun. It means: Initialism of automatic identification system, as an element of the Global Marine Distress and Safety System GMDSS. Pronounced /ˈeɪ ˈaɪ ˈɛs/. Often confused with as and at.

Key facts for AIS
PropertyValue
HeadwordAIS
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈeɪ ˈaɪ ˈɛs/
Letters3
Frequency rank#26,670
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of AIS in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for AIS is 3 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈeɪ ˈaɪ ˈɛs/. Corpus data places it at rank #26,670 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

No frequent misspelling variants are recorded for AIS in our index, suggesting the orthography either follows predictable English patterns or the word is uncommon enough that typo corpora lack signal.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "as", "at", "an", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is AIS, spelled A-I-S, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Initialism of automatic identification system, as an element of the Global Marine Distress and Safety System GMDSS.
  2. 2
    Initialism of Australian Illawarra Shorthorn (cattle breed).
  3. 3
    Abbreviation of androgen insensitivity syndrome.
  4. 4
    Initialism of artificial immune system.

Frequency rank: #26,670 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "AIS"?
"AIS" is spelled A-I-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈeɪ ˈaɪ ˈɛs/.
What does "AIS" mean?
As a noun, "AIS" means: Initialism of automatic identification system, as an element of the Global Marine Distress and Safety System GMDSS.
What words are commonly confused with "AIS"?
"AIS" is commonly confused with "as", "at", "an". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "AIS"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "AIS" is /ˈeɪ ˈaɪ ˈɛs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "AIS" come from?
"AIS" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter A in our English index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.