apex
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
4 characters
Language
English
word origin
Source
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "apex", 4-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 "apex" 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 "apex" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
apex is aEnglishnoun. It means: The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point. Pronounced /ˈeɪ.pɛks/. Often confused with ax and are.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | apex |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈeɪ.pɛks/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #10,981 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for apex is 4 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈeɪ.pɛks/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,981 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 17 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 5 documented wrong-spelling variants for apex, with forms such as "aepx", "apexx", and "appex". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ax", "are", "App", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin apex (“point, tip, summit”). Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is apex, spelled A-P-E-X, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.
- 2The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.
- 3The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.
- 4The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.
- 5The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.
- 6The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.
- 7The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.
- 8The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.
- 9The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.
- 10The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.
- 11The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.
- 12The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.
- 13The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.
- 14An obstacle for a horse to jump over, consisting of a triangular corner fence.
- 15The moment of greatest success, expansion, etc.
- 16The top of the food chain.
- 17A conical priest cap.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin apex (“point, tip, summit”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aepx,apexx,appex,apxe,paex
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for apex
Misspelling Variants of "apex"
Frequency rank: #10,981 in English
Frequently Asked Questions
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter A in our English index: