asphyxia

/æzˈfɪksiə/

//æzˈfɪksiə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"asphyxia" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“asphyxia” is uncommon English (frequency #58,518 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#58,518
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Loss of consciousness due to the interruption of breathing and consequent anoxia.

Corpus desk

Index EN-asphyxia · asphyxia · English

asphyxia · rank #58,518 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #58,518
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH Asturias

Nearest frequency peer: Asturias (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “asphyxia”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “asphyxia” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for asphyxia
PropertyValue
Headwordasphyxia
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/æzˈfɪksiə/
Letters8
Frequency rank#58,518
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “asphyxia” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).asphyxiafalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Asturias” (#58,519), “Athol” (#58,520), “artemisia” (#58,515). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “asphyxia” is #58,518. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

asphyxia is uncommon English at frequency #58,518 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /æzˈfɪksiə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for asphyxia, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from New Latin asphyxia, itself borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀσφυξία (asphuxía, “stopping of the pulse”). The correct English form is asphyxia, spelled A-S-P-H-Y-X-I-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Loss of consciousness due to the interruption of breathing and consequent anoxia.
  2. 2
    Loss of consciousness due to the body's inability to deliver oxygen to its tissues, either by the breathing of air lacking oxygen or by the inability of the blood to carry oxygen.
  3. 3
    A condition in which an extreme decrease in the concentration of oxygen in the body leads to loss of consciousness or death. Replaced in the mid-20th century by the more specific terms anoxia, hypoxia, hypoxemia and hypercapnia.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how asphyxia appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Asphyxia may result from choking, drowning, electric shock, or injury.
  2. The mattress platform on Davey’s bed fell unexpectedly, “trapping her neck against the upper surface of the side panel of the bed’s base,” Chipperfield explained. “Unable to free herself, she died of positional asphyxia. One of the two gas-lift pistons was defective.”

Etymology

Learned borrowing from New Latin asphyxia, itself borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀσφυξία (asphuxía, “stopping of the pulse”).

This word in other languages

asfixia(Español)asphyxie(Français)Erstickungstod(Deutsch)asfixia(Português)

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 "asphyxia"?
"asphyxia" is spelled A-S-P-H-Y-X-I-A. The IPA pronunciation is /æzˈfɪksiə/.
What does "asphyxia" mean?
As a noun, "asphyxia" means: Loss of consciousness due to the interruption of breathing and consequent anoxia.
How do you pronounce "asphyxia"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "asphyxia" is /æzˈfɪksiə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "asphyxia"?
Learned borrowing from New Latin asphyxia, itself borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀσφυξία (asphuxía, “stopping of the pulse”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "asphyxia", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Asturias#58,519availing#58,523axillary#58,526backless#58,530

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list