arsenic
/ˈɑː(ɹ).sə.nɪk/
"arsenic" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“arsenic” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #21,443 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #21,443
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A toxic grey brittle nonmetallic chemical element (symbol As) with an atomic number of 33.
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 | arsenic |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɑː(ɹ).sə.nɪk/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #21,443 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “arsenic” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for arsenic is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɑː(ɹ).sə.nɪk/. Corpus data places it at rank #21,443 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for arsenic, with forms such as "aresnic", "arrsenic", and "arseinc". 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. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "arsenal", "Armenia", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English arsenik, borrowed from Middle French arsenic, from Latin arsenicum, from Ancient Greek ἀρσενικόν (arsenikón, “yellow arsenic”) (influenced by ἀρσενικός (arsenikós, “potent, virile”)), from Semitic (compare Classical Syriac ܙܪܢܝܟܐ (zarnīḵ… The correct English form is arsenic, spelled A-R-S-E-N-I-C.
Definition
- 1A toxic grey brittle nonmetallic chemical element (symbol As) with an atomic number of 33.
- 2A single atom of this element.
- 3Arsenic trioxide.
Etymology
From Middle English arsenik, borrowed from Middle French arsenic, from Latin arsenicum, from Ancient Greek ἀρσενικόν (arsenikón, “yellow arsenic”) (influenced by ἀρσενικός (arsenikós, “potent, virile”)), from Semitic (compare Classical Syriac ܙܪܢܝܟܐ (zarnīḵā), Aramaic 𐡆𐡓𐡍𐡉𐡊𐡀 (zrnykʾ /zarnīḵā/)), from Middle Iranian *zarnīk (compare Persian زرنیخ (zirnīx /zernix, zarnīx /zarnix, “arsenic”), زرنی (zurnī /zorni), Bakhtiari زرنیق (zarniq)), from Old Median *zaraniyakā (compare Avestan 𐬰𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬀 (zaraniia, “golden”), Old Persian 𐎭𐎼𐎴𐎡𐎹 (d-r-n-i-y /daraniya-/, “gold”), Sanskrit हिरण्य (híraṇya, “gold”), Persian زر (zar, “gold”)), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃-. More at yellow.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aresnic,arrsenic,arseinc,arsenci,arsenicc,arsennic,arsneic,arssenic,asrenic,rasenic
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of arsenic - 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
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Using “arsenic”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-R-S-E-N-I-C - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɑː(ɹ).sə.nɪk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “arsenal” - see the side-by-side comparison. arsenic vs arsenal
- 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.