bice

/baɪs/

//baɪs// noun

"bice" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bice” is uncommon English (frequency #89,156 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#89,156
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A pale blue pigment, prepared from the native blue carbonate of copper, or from smalt.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bice · bice · English

bice · rank #89,156 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #89,156
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bichon

Nearest frequency peer: bichon (+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 “bice”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for bice
PropertyValue
Headwordbice
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/baɪs/
Letters4
Frequency rank#89,156
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “bice” in English

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).bicefalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “bichon” (#89,157), “Bicol” (#89,158), “Bideford” (#89,159). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bice” is #89,156. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

bice is uncommon English at frequency #89,156 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /baɪs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for bice, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French bis, akin to Italian bigio (“light gray, tawny”). Doublet of beige. The correct English form is bice, spelled B-I-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A pale blue pigment, prepared from the native blue carbonate of copper, or from smalt.
  2. 2
    A cobalt blue pigment.

Etymology

From French bis, akin to Italian bigio (“light gray, tawny”). Doublet of beige.

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 "bice"?
"bice" is spelled B-I-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /baɪs/.
What does "bice" mean?
As a noun, "bice" means: A pale blue pigment, prepared from the native blue carbonate of copper, or from smalt.
How do you pronounce "bice"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bice" is /baɪs/. 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 "bice"?
From French bis, akin to Italian bigio (“light gray, tawny”). Doublet of beige. 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 "bice", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list