assailant

/əˈseɪlənt/

//əˈseɪlənt// noun

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

"assailant" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“assailant” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #25,667. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#25,667
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
11
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Someone who attacks or assails another violently, or criminally.

Corpus desk

Index EN-assailant · assailant · English

assailant · rank #25,667 · 11 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #25,667
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH Asiatic

Nearest frequency peer: Asiatic (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “assailant”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “assailant” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for assailant
PropertyValue
Headwordassailant
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/əˈseɪlənt/
Letters9
Frequency rank#25,667
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “assailant”

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

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “Asiatic” (#25,666), “articulation” (#25,665), “Ares” (#25,664). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “assailant” is #25,667. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around assailant (IPA /əˈseɪlənt/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #25,667 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for assailant, with forms such as "asailant", "asasilant", and "assaialnt". 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. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Old French assaillant, from the verb assaillir, from Late Latin assalīre, from Latin ad (“to, towards”) + salīre (“to jump”). Equivalent to assail + -ant. The correct English form is assailant, spelled A-S-S-A-I-L-A-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Someone who attacks or assails another violently, or criminally.
  2. 2
    A hostile critic or opponent.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. I’ll put myself in poor and mean attire, And with a kind of umber smirch my face; The like do you; so shall we pass along, And never stir assailants.
  2. […] commonly some of us used to get up a tree to look out for any assailant, or kidnapper, that might come upon us; for they sometimes took those opportunities of our parents absence to attack and carry off as many as they could seize.

Etymology

From Old French assaillant, from the verb assaillir, from Late Latin assalīre, from Latin ad (“to, towards”) + salīre (“to jump”). Equivalent to assail + -ant.

This word in other languages

agresseur(Français)Angreifer(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • asailant
  • asasilant
  • assaialnt
  • assailannt
  • assailantt
  • assailatn
  • assaillant
  • assailnat
  • assaliant
  • assialant
  • sasailant

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of assailant - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

asailant1asasilant2assaialnt2assailannt1assailantt1assailatn2assaillant1assailnat2
Edit distance from "assailant"

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 "assailant"?
"assailant" is spelled A-S-S-A-I-L-A-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈseɪlənt/.
What does "assailant" mean?
As a noun, "assailant" means: Someone who attacks or assails another violently, or criminally.
What are common misspellings of "assailant"?
Common misspellings include "asailant", "asasilant", "assaialnt", "assailannt", "assailantt". The correct spelling is "assailant".
How do you pronounce "assailant"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "assailant" is /əˈseɪlənt/. 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 "assailant"?
From Old French assaillant, from the verb assaillir, from Late Latin assalīre, from Latin ad (“to, towards”) + salīre (“to jump”). Equivalent to assail + -ant. 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 "assailant", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

atonement#25,670anxiously#25,661barricade#25,675Allegheny#25,654

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

angelica11 variantsbollocks11 variantsaccordion11 variantsBronson11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list