blossom
/ˈblɒs.əm/
"blossom" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“blossom” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #12,552 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #12,552
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A flower, especially one indicating that a fruit tree is fruiting; (collectively) a mass of such flowers.
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 | blossom |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈblɒs.əm/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #12,552 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “blossom” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for blossom is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈblɒs.əm/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,552 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 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 blossom, with forms such as "bblossom", "bllossom", and "blosom". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "bosom", "blossoms", "bloom", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English blosme, from Old English blostm, blostma, from Proto-Germanic *blōstmô (compare West Frisian blossem, Dutch bloesem; related to *blōstaz [compare German Blust]), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃-s- (“bloom, flower”), from *bʰleh₃- (“to b… The correct English form is blossom, spelled B-L-O-S-S-O-M.
Definition
- 1A flower, especially one indicating that a fruit tree is fruiting; (collectively) a mass of such flowers.
- 2The state or season of producing such flowers.
- 3A blooming period or stage of development; something lovely that gives rich promise.
- 4The colour of a horse that has white hairs intermixed with sorrel and bay hairs.
Etymology
From Middle English blosme, from Old English blostm, blostma, from Proto-Germanic *blōstmô (compare West Frisian blossem, Dutch bloesem; related to *blōstaz [compare German Blust]), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃-s- (“bloom, flower”), from *bʰleh₃- (“to bloom, to thrive”). Cognate with Albanian bleron (“to blossom, to thrive”), Latin flōs (“flower”), Flōra (“goddess of plants”). See more at blow (etymology 4).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bblossom,bllossom,blosom,blososm,blossmo,blossomm,blsosom,bolssom,lbossom
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of blossom - 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
How do you spell "blossom"?
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Using “blossom”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-L-O-S-S-O-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈblɒs.əm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “bosom” - see the side-by-side comparison. blossom vs bosom
- 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.