average
/ˈæv.(ə.)ɹɪd͡ʒ/
"average" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“average” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #704 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #704
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any measure of central tendency, especially any mean, the median, or the mode.
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 | average |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈæv.(ə.)ɹɪd͡ʒ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #704 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “average” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for average is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈæv.(ə.)ɹɪd͡ʒ/. Corpus data places it at rank #704 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for average, with forms such as "aevrage", "avearge", and "averaeg". 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. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "averse", "avenge", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Arabic عَوَار (ʕawār) Arabic ـِيّ (-iyy) Proto-Afroasiatic *-t Proto-Semitic *-at- Arabic ـَة (-a) Arabic ـِيَّة (-iyya) Arabic عَوَارِيَّة (ʕawāriyya)? Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ- Proto-Italic *haβēō Latin habeō Old Italian avere? Old Ital… The correct English form is average, spelled A-V-E-R-A-G-E.
Definition
- 1Any measure of central tendency, especially any mean, the median, or the mode.
- 2Any measure of central tendency, especially any mean, the median, or the mode.
- 3Financial loss due to damage to transported goods; compensation for damage or loss.
- 4Financial loss due to damage to transported goods; compensation for damage or loss.
- 5Financial loss due to damage to transported goods; compensation for damage or loss.
- 6An indication of a player's ability calculated from his scoring record, etc.
Etymology
Etymology tree Arabic عَوَار (ʕawār) Arabic ـِيّ (-iyy) Proto-Afroasiatic *-t Proto-Semitic *-at- Arabic ـَة (-a) Arabic ـِيَّة (-iyya) Arabic عَوَارِيَّة (ʕawāriyya)? Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ- Proto-Italic *haβēō Latin habeō Old Italian avere? Old Italian avariabor. Old French avarie Middle French avarie Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātus Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Italic *-kos Latin -cus Latin -icus Latin -āticus Latin -āticum Old French -agebor. Middle English -age English -age English average Not entirely certain. The oldest meaning in English is “customs duty”. Borrowed from Middle French avarie (“damage to ship or cargo”), from Old French avarie, from Old Italian avaria where it is first attested in the 12th century in the context of Mediterranean trade. From there most sources trace it to Arabic عَوَارِيَّة (ʕawāriyya, “damaged goods”), from عَوَار (ʕawār, “fault, blemish, defect, flaw”), from عَوِرَ (ʕawira, “to lose an eye”), but the OED gives it a Romance derivation from Italian avere (“property, goods”) or the like. The English suffix -age was added in analogy to words like damage.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aevrage,avearge,averaeg,averagge,avergae,averrage,avreage,avverage,vaerage
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of average - 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 “average”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-V-E-R-A-G-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈæv.(ə.)ɹɪd͡ʒ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “averse” - see the side-by-side comparison. average vs averse
- 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.