casualty

/ˈkaʒʊ.əlti/

//ˈkaʒʊ.əlti// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"casualty" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“casualty” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #12,739 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#12,739
frequency rank, English
8
letters
12
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Something that happens by chance, especially an unfortunate event; an accident, a disaster.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

casualty vs casual
75% similar
casualty vs casually
88% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for casualty
PropertyValue
Headwordcasualty
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkaʒʊ.əlti/
Letters8
Frequency rank#12,739
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “casualty” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). casualty lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for casualty is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkaʒʊ.əlti/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,739 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for casualty, with forms such as "acsualty", "casaulty", and "cassualty". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "casual", "casually", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From casual, from Middle French casuel, from Medieval Latin casualitas and Late Latin cāsuālis (“happening by chance”), from Latin cāsus (“event”) (English case), from cadere (“to fall”). Originally meaning “a chance event” (compare casual, as in “casual en… The correct English form is casualty, spelled C-A-S-U-A-L-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Something that happens by chance, especially an unfortunate event; an accident, a disaster.
  2. 2
    A person suffering from injuries or who has been killed due to an accident or through an act of violence.
  3. 3
    Specifically, a person who has been killed (not only injured) due to an accident or through an act of violence; a fatality.
  4. 4
    A person in military service who becomes unavailable for duty, for any reason (notably death, injury, illness, capture, or desertion).
  5. 5
    Clipping of casualty department: the accident and emergency department of a hospital providing immediate treatment.
  6. 6
    An incidental charge or payment.
  7. 7
    Someone or something adversely affected by a decision, event or situation.
  8. 8
    Chance nature; randomness.

Etymology

From casual, from Middle French casuel, from Medieval Latin casualitas and Late Latin cāsuālis (“happening by chance”), from Latin cāsus (“event”) (English case), from cadere (“to fall”). Originally meaning “a chance event” (compare casual, as in “casual encounter”), it developed a negative meaning as “an unfortunate event”, especially the loss of a person.

Synonyms

fortuneluckemergencyemergency roomemergency departmentemergency wardE. R.E.R.ERcasualty departmentcasualty wardaccident and emergencyA&E

This word in other languages

baja(Español)accident(Français)Unfall(Deutsch)baixa(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: acsualty,casaulty,cassualty,casuallty,casualtty,casualtyy,casualyt,casuatly,casulaty,causalty,ccasualty,csaualty

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of casualty - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

acsualty2casaulty2cassualty1casuallty1casualtty1casualtyy1casualyt2casuatly2
Edit distance from "casualty"

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 "casualty"?
"casualty" is spelled C-A-S-U-A-L-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkaʒʊ.əlti/.
What does "casualty" mean?
As a noun, "casualty" means: Something that happens by chance, especially an unfortunate event; an accident, a disaster.
What words are commonly confused with "casualty"?
"casualty" is commonly confused with "casual", "casually". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "casualty"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "casualty" is /ˈkaʒʊ.əlti/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "casualty"?
From casual, from Middle French casuel, from Medieval Latin casualitas and Late Latin cāsuālis (“happening by chance”), from Latin cāsus (“event”) (English case), from cadere (“to fall”). Originally meaning “a chance event” (compare casual, as in ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “casualty”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is C-A-S-U-A-L-T-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈkaʒʊ.əlti/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “casual” - see the side-by-side comparison. casualty vs casual
  • 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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list