allele
/ˈæl.iːl/
"allele" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“allele” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #32,269. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #32,269
- frequency rank, English
- 3,931
- “A” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 11
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - One of a number of alternative forms of the same gene occupying a given position, or locus, on a chromosome.
Corpus desk
Index EN-allele · allele · English
allele · rank #32,269 · 6 variants · 11 confusables
- FREQ-MID #32,269
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 11 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,931
- PHOTO-FINISH Alford
Nearest frequency peer: Alford (-1 rank slots)
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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “allele”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- Ackerman
Ackerman
67,736 corpus weight
- acumen
acumen
67,735 corpus weight
- admirably
admirably
67,734 corpus weight
- Alford
Alford
67,733 corpus weight
- allele
allele
67,732 corpus weight
- alumnus
alumnus
67,731 corpus weight
What this shows “allele” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | allele |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈæl.iːl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #32,269 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “allele”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around allele (IPA /ˈæl.iːl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #32,269 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Dominant gloss: "One of a number of alternative forms of the same gene occupying a given position, or locus, on a chromosome.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for allele, with forms such as "alele", "alelle", and "alleel". 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 11 confusable-pair relationships, "Allen", "alley", "Allie", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from German Allel, shortened from Allelomorph, from English allelomorph. Ultimately from the Ancient Greek ἀλλήλων (allḗlōn) from ἄλλος (állos, “other”). The correct English form is allele, spelled A-L-L-E-L-E.
Definition
- 1One of a number of alternative forms of the same gene occupying a given position, or locus, on a chromosome.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how allele appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Genes are competing directly with their alleles for survival, since their alleles in the gene pool are rivals for their slot on the chromosomes of future generations. Any gene that behaves in such a way as to increase its own survival chances in the gene pool at the expense of its alleles will, by definition, tautologously, tend to survive.
Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better.
Etymology
Borrowed from German Allel, shortened from Allelomorph, from English allelomorph. Ultimately from the Ancient Greek ἀλλήλων (allḗlōn) from ἄλλος (állos, “other”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- alele
- alelle
- alleel
- allelle
- alllee
- lalele
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of allele - 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.
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 "allele"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "allele", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).