altruism
/ˈæl.tɹu.ɪz.əm/
"altruism" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“altruism” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #31,056 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #31,056
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Regard for others, both natural and moral without regard for oneself; devotion to the interests of others; brotherly kindness.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | altruism |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈæl.tɹu.ɪz.əm/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #31,056 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “altruism” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for altruism is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈæl.tɹu.ɪz.əm/. Corpus data places it at rank #31,056 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for altruism, with forms such as "alltruism", "alrtuism", and "altriusm". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French altruisme, which was coined in 1830 by Auguste Comte from autrui (“of or to others”) + -isme, from Old French, from Latin alteri, dative of alter (“other”) (whence also English alter). Apparently inspired by the French Latin legal phrase l'autru… The correct English form is altruism, spelled A-L-T-R-U-I-S-M.
Definition
- 1Regard for others, both natural and moral without regard for oneself; devotion to the interests of others; brotherly kindness.
- 2Action or behaviour that benefits another or others at some cost to the performer.
Etymology
From French altruisme, which was coined in 1830 by Auguste Comte from autrui (“of or to others”) + -isme, from Old French, from Latin alteri, dative of alter (“other”) (whence also English alter). Apparently inspired by the French Latin legal phrase l'autrui, from le bien, le droit d'autrui (“the good, the right of the other”). Introduced into English by George Henry Lewes in 1853, in his translation Comte’s Philosophy of the Sciences, 1, xxi.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: alltruism,alrtuism,altriusm,altrruism,altruims,altruismm,altruissm,altrusim,alttruism,alturism,atlruism,latruism
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of altruism - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "altruism"?
What does "altruism" mean?
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Using “altruism”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-L-T-R-U-I-S-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈæl.tɹu.ɪz.əm/ (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.