category
/ˈkæ.tɪ.ɡə.ɹi/
"category" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“category” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,615 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #2,615
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A group, often named or numbered, to which items are assigned based on similarity or defined criteria.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | category |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkæ.tɪ.ɡə.ɹi/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #2,615 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “category” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for category is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkæ.tɪ.ɡə.ɹi/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,615 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 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 category, with forms such as "actegory", "caetgory", and "categgory". 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. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Late Middle English, borrowed from French catégorie, from Middle French categorie, from Late Latin catēgoria (“class of predicables”), from Ancient Greek κατηγορία (katēgoría, “head of predicables”). Doublet of categoria. The correct English form is category, spelled C-A-T-E-G-O-R-Y.
Definition
- 1A group, often named or numbered, to which items are assigned based on similarity or defined criteria.
- 2A collection of objects, together with a transitively closed collection of composable arrows between them, such that every object has an identity arrow, and such that arrow composition is associative.
Etymology
Late Middle English, borrowed from French catégorie, from Middle French categorie, from Late Latin catēgoria (“class of predicables”), from Ancient Greek κατηγορία (katēgoría, “head of predicables”). Doublet of categoria.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: actegory,caetgory,categgory,categorry,categoryy,categoyr,categroy,cateogry,catgeory,cattegory,ccategory,ctaegory
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of category - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “category”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-A-T-E-G-O-R-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkæ.tɪ.ɡə.ɹi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.