alga
/ˈæl.ɡə/
"alga" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“alga” is an uncommon English word, ranked #64,173 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #64,173
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of many aquatic photosynthetic organisms, including the seaweeds, whose size ranges from a single cell to giant kelps and whose biochemistry and forms are very diverse, some being eukaryotic.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | alga |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈæl.ɡə/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #64,173 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “alga” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for alga is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈæl.ɡə/. Corpus data places it at rank #64,173 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Any of many aquatic photosynthetic organisms, including the seaweeds, whose size ranges from a single cell to giant kelps and whose biochemistry and forms are very diverse, some being eukaryotic.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for alga, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin alga. The correct English form is alga, spelled A-L-G-A.
Definition
- 1Any of many aquatic photosynthetic organisms, including the seaweeds, whose size ranges from a single cell to giant kelps and whose biochemistry and forms are very diverse, some being eukaryotic.
Etymology
From Latin alga.
This word in other languages
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 "alga"?
What does "alga" mean?
How do you pronounce "alga"?
What is the origin of the word "alga"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “alga”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-L-G-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈæl.ɡə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.