alkane
/ˈæl.keɪn/
"alkane" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“alkane” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any acyclic saturated hydrocarbon (methane, ethane, etc.).
Corpus desk
Index EN-alkane · alkane · English
alkane · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "A" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | alkane |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈæl.keɪn/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “alkane” in English
Rare enough to double-check
alkane is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈæl.keɪn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Any acyclic saturated hydrocarbon (methane, ethane, etc.).".
No misspelling variants are generated for alkane in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From German Alkan, formed as alkyl + -ane. The correct English form is alkane, spelled A-L-K-A-N-E.
Definition
- 1Any acyclic saturated hydrocarbon (methane, ethane, etc.).
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how alkane appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The carbon chain of an alkane may be linear or branched, but must not contain loops (cycles); its chemical formula is of the form CₙH₂ₙ₊₂.
Whereas production levels of short-chain alkanes in plants are insufficient to provide an economically viable fuel source, the genes encoding the alkane biosynthetic pathway may provide a biotechnological resource for engineering fermentation organisms with the capacity to convert biomass to an alkane-based fuel.
Etymology
From German Alkan, formed as alkyl + -ane.
Synonyms
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.