carbolic acid
"carbolic-acid" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“carbolic acid” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - phenol (C₆H₅OH)
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | carbolic acid |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “carbolic acid” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
carbolic acid is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "phenol (C₆H₅OH)".
Zero misspellings are on record for carbolic acid in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Partial calque of German Carbolsäure (modern German Karbolsäure), which was coined in 1834 by its discoverer Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge. The correct English form is carbolic acid, spelled C-A-R-B-O-L-I-C- -A-C-I-D.
Definition
- 1phenol (C₆H₅OH)
Etymology
Partial calque of German Carbolsäure (modern German Karbolsäure), which was coined in 1834 by its discoverer Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “carbolic acid”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-A-R-B-O-L-I-C- -A-C-I-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- 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.