article
/ˈɑːtɪkl̩/
"article" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“article” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #841 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #841
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A piece of nonfiction writing such as a story, report, opinion piece, or entry in a newspaper, magazine, journal, encyclopedia, etc.
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 | article |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɑːtɪkl̩/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #841 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “article” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for article is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɑːtɪkl̩/. Corpus data places it at rank #841 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 11 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 article, with forms such as "aritcle", "arrticle", and "artcile". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "Artie", "artiste", "articles", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English article, from Old French article, from Latin articulus (“a joint, limb, member, part, division, the article in grammar, a point of time”), from Latin artus, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂értus (“that which is fit together; juncture, orderi… The correct English form is article, spelled A-R-T-I-C-L-E.
Definition
- 1A piece of nonfiction writing such as a story, report, opinion piece, or entry in a newspaper, magazine, journal, encyclopedia, etc.
- 2An object, a member of a group or class.
- 3A part of speech that indicates, specifies and limits a noun (a, an, or the in English). In some languages the article may appear as an ending (e.g. definite article in Swedish) or there may be none (e.g. Russian, Pashto).
- 4A section of a legal document, bylaws, etc. or, in the plural, the entire document seen as a collection of these.
- 5Ellipsis of genuine article.
- 6A part or segment of something joined to other parts, or, in combination, forming a structured set.
- 7A person; an individual.
- 8A wench.
- 9Subject matter; concern.
- 10A distinct part.
- 11A precise point in time; a moment.
Etymology
From Middle English article, from Old French article, from Latin articulus (“a joint, limb, member, part, division, the article in grammar, a point of time”), from Latin artus, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂értus (“that which is fit together; juncture, ordering”), from the root *h₂er- (“to join, fit (together)”). Doublet of articulus.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aritcle,arrticle,artcile,articcle,articel,articlle,artilce,artticle,atricle,raticle
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of article - 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 “article”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-R-T-I-C-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɑːtɪkl̩/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Artie” - see the side-by-side comparison. article vs Artie
- 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.