biology
/baɪˈɒl.ə.d͡ʒɪ/
"biology" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“biology” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #4,921 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #4,921
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The study of all life or living matter.
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 | biology |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /baɪˈɒl.ə.d͡ʒɪ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #4,921 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “biology” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for biology is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /baɪˈɒl.ə.d͡ʒɪ/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,921 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for biology, with forms such as "bbiology", "biloogy", and "biolgoy". 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. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "biologic", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃-der. Ancient Greek βίος (bíos) Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Anci… The correct English form is biology, spelled B-I-O-L-O-G-Y.
Definition
- 1The study of all life or living matter.
- 2The living organisms of a particular region.
- 3The structure, function, and behavior of an organism or type of organism.
- 4A biographical history.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃-der. Ancient Greek βίος (bíos) Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek -λογῐ́ᾱ (-logĭ́ā)bor. New Latin -logia New Latin biologialbor. English biology Borrowed from New Latin biologia (1766), itself from Ancient Greek βίος (bíos, “bio-, life”) + -λογία (-logía, “-logy, branch of study, to speak”). By surface analysis, bio- + -logy. In English, first attested in the modern meaning in the work of English physician Thomas Beddoes in 1799. The term is also recorded in the sense of a biographical history in the work of Dudley Loftus in 1686, but this is considered by the Oxford English Dictionary to be an isolated use. The modern Greek βιολογία (viología) is borrowed from the English term and French biologie via international scientific vocabulary. Piecewise doublet of zoology.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbiology,biloogy,biolgoy,biollogy,biologgy,biologyy,bioloyg,bioolgy,boilogy,ibology
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of biology - 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 “biology”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-I-O-L-O-G-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /baɪˈɒl.ə.d͡ʒɪ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “biologic” - see the side-by-side comparison. biology vs biologic
- 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.