battery

/ˈbæt.(ə)ɹi/

//ˈbæt.(ə)ɹi// noun

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

"battery" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“battery” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,877. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,877
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
16
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A device used to power electric devices, consisting of one or more electrically connected electrochemical cells or (archaically) electrostatic cells.

Corpus desk

Index EN-battery · battery · English

battery · rank #2,877 · 9 variants · 16 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,877
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 16 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH balls

Nearest frequency peer: balls (-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 “battery”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “battery” 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

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

battery vs batty
71% similar
battery vs better
71% similar
battery vs butter
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for battery
PropertyValue
Headwordbattery
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbæt.(ə)ɹi/
Letters7
Frequency rank#2,877
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs16
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “battery”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).batterylands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “balls” (#2,876), “bills” (#2,878), “automatically” (#2,875). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “battery” is #2,877. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around battery (IPA /ˈbæt.(ə)ɹi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,877 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 14 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for battery, with forms such as "abttery", "batery", and "batetry". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 16 confusable-pair relationships, "batty", "better", "butter", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French batterie, from Old French baterie (“action of beating”), from batre (“beat”), from Latin battuō (“beat”), from Gaulish. Doublet of batterie. By surface analysis, batter + -y. The electrical sense was coined by American polymath B… The correct English form is battery, spelled B-A-T-T-E-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A device used to power electric devices, consisting of one or more electrically connected electrochemical cells or (archaically) electrostatic cells.
  2. 2
    A device used to power electric devices, consisting of one or more electrically connected electrochemical cells or (archaically) electrostatic cells.
  3. 3
    The energy stored in such a device.
  4. 4
    The infliction of unlawful physical violence on a person, legally distinguished from assault, which involves the threat of impending violence.
  5. 5
    A coordinated group of artillery weapons, with any of various numbers of guns.
  6. 6
    A coordinated group of artillery weapons, with any of various numbers of guns.
  7. 7
    An elevated platform on which cannon could be placed.
  8. 8
    An array of similar things.
  9. 9
    A set of small cages where hens are kept for the purpose of farming their eggs.
  10. 10
    The catcher and the pitcher together
  11. 11
    Two or more pieces working together on the same rank, file, or diagonal
  12. 12
    A marching percussion ensemble; the section of the drumline that marches on the field during a performance.
  13. 13
    The state of a firearm or cannon when it is possible to be fired.
  14. 14
    Apparatus for preparing or serving meals.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. alkaline battery
  2. sodium-ion battery

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French batterie, from Old French baterie (“action of beating”), from batre (“beat”), from Latin battuō (“beat”), from Gaulish. Doublet of batterie. By surface analysis, batter + -y. The electrical sense was coined by American polymath Benjamin Franklin by analogy with a military battery that his series of Leyden jars resembled.

This word in other languages

pila(Español)pile(Français)Batterie(Deutsch)pilha(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • abttery
  • batery
  • batetry
  • batterry
  • batteryy
  • batteyr
  • battrey
  • bbattery
  • btatery

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of battery - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

abttery2batery1batetry2batterry1batteryy1batteyr2battrey2bbattery1
Edit distance from "battery"

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 "battery"?
"battery" is spelled B-A-T-T-E-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbæt.(ə)ɹi/.
What does "battery" mean?
As a noun, "battery" means: A device used to power electric devices, consisting of one or more electrically connected electrochemical cells or (archaically) electrostatic cells.
What words are commonly confused with "battery"?
"battery" is commonly confused with "batty", "better", "butter". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "battery"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "battery" is /ˈbæt.(ə)ɹi/. 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 "battery"?
Borrowed from Middle French batterie, from Old French baterie (“action of beating”), from batre (“beat”), from Latin battuō (“beat”), from Gaulish. Doublet of batterie. By surface analysis, batter + -y. The electrical sense was coined by American ... 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 "battery", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

conduct#2,884unknown#2,870destroy#2,887today's#2,867

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

breath9 variantsWilson9 variantsEdward9 variantsstayed9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list