bilateral
/baɪˈlætəɹəl/
"bilateral" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bilateral” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #10,817 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #10,817
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Having two sides.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bilateral |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /baɪˈlætəɹəl/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #10,817 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bilateral” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for bilateral is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /baɪˈlætəɹəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,817 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for bilateral, with forms such as "bbilateral", "bialteral", and "bilaetral". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From bi- + lateral. The correct English form is bilateral, spelled B-I-L-A-T-E-R-A-L.
Definition
- 1Having two sides.
- 2Involving both sides equally.
- 3Binding on both of the two parties involved.
- 4Having bilateral symmetry.
- 5Involving descent or ascent regardless of sex and side of the family (bilateral linearity).
Etymology
From bi- + lateral.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbilateral,bialteral,bilaetral,bilatearl,bilaterall,bilaterla,bilaterral,bilatreal,bilatteral,billateral,biltaeral,bliateral,iblateral
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bilateral - 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 “bilateral”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-I-L-A-T-E-R-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /baɪˈlætəɹəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.