apoptosis
/ˌapɒpˈtəʊsɪs/
"apoptosis" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“apoptosis” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #29,163 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #29,163
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A process of programmed cell death by which cells undergo an ordered sequence of events which leads to death of the cell, as occurs during growth and development of the organism, as a part of norma...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | apoptosis |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌapɒpˈtəʊsɪs/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #29,163 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “apoptosis” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for apoptosis is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌapɒpˈtəʊsɪs/. Corpus data places it at rank #29,163 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A process of programmed cell death by which cells undergo an ordered sequence of events which leads to death of the cell, as occurs during growth and development of the organism, as a part of norma...".
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for apoptosis, with forms such as "aopptosis", "apopotsis", and "apopptosis". 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. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek ἀπόπτωσις (apóptōsis, “a falling off”), from ἀπό (apó, “away from”) + πτῶσις (ptôsis, “falling”). The correct English form is apoptosis, spelled A-P-O-P-T-O-S-I-S.
Definition
- 1A process of programmed cell death by which cells undergo an ordered sequence of events which leads to death of the cell, as occurs during growth and development of the organism, as a part of normal cell aging, or as a response to cellular injury.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἀπόπτωσις (apóptōsis, “a falling off”), from ἀπό (apó, “away from”) + πτῶσις (ptôsis, “falling”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aopptosis,apopotsis,apopptosis,apoptoiss,apoptosiss,apoptossi,apoptossis,apoptsois,apopttosis,apotposis,appoptosis,appotosis,paoptosis
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of apoptosis - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “apoptosis”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-P-O-P-T-O-S-I-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌapɒpˈtəʊsɪs/ (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.