bursa
/ˈbɜːsə/
"bursa" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bursa” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #46,957. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #46,957
- frequency rank, English
- 4,121
- “B” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of the many small fluid-filled sacs located at the point where a muscle or tendon slides across bone. These sacs serve to reduce friction between the two moving surfaces.
Corpus desk
Index EN-bursa · bursa · English
bursa · rank #46,957 · 7 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #46,957
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,121
- PHOTO-FINISH Burgos
Nearest frequency peer: Burgos (-2 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 “bursa”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- bubonic
bubonic
53,049 corpus weight
- bulger
bulger
53,047 corpus weight
- Burgos
Burgos
53,046 corpus weight
- bursa
bursa
53,044 corpus weight
- busta
busta
53,042 corpus weight
- bylaw
bylaw
53,041 corpus weight
What this shows “bursa” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | bursa |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbɜːsə/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #46,957 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “bursa”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around bursa (IPA /ˈbɜːsə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #46,957 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for bursa, with forms such as "bbursa", "brusa", and "buras". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "bus", "busy", "bush", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Medieval Latin bursa (“purse”), from Ancient Greek βύρσα (búrsa); compare purse and bourse, which are doublets. The correct English form is bursa, spelled B-U-R-S-A.
Definition
- 1Any of the many small fluid-filled sacs located at the point where a muscle or tendon slides across bone. These sacs serve to reduce friction between the two moving surfaces.
- 2A diverticulum on the cloaca of young birds, which serves as a lymphatic organ and as part of the immune system, but which atrophies as the bird ages.
- 3Any of various pouch-like organs for storing semen prior to copulation in the male or for receiving semen in the female.
- 4A parament about twelve inches square in which the folded corporal is kept in for reasons of reverence.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how bursa appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
A bursa over the anterior aspect of the upper end of the tibia, between the patellar tendon and the tubercle of the tibia, is sometimes enlarged, and may be mistaken for synovitis of the joint.
Bursitis is inflammation of a bursa, which results in pain, tenderness, and stiffness and in some cases, swelling and redness.
Etymology
Borrowed from Medieval Latin bursa (“purse”), from Ancient Greek βύρσα (búrsa); compare purse and bourse, which are doublets.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- bbursa
- brusa
- buras
- burrsa
- burssa
- busra
- ubrsa
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bursa - 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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bursa", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).