census

/ˈsɛnsəs/

//ˈsɛnsəs// noun

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

"census" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“census” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,198. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,198
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An official count or enumeration of members of a population (not necessarily human), usually residents or citizens in a particular region, often done at regular intervals.

Corpus desk

Index EN-census · census · English

census · rank #5,198 · 9 variants · 7 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,198
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH cargo

Nearest frequency peer: cargo (-1 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 “census”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “census” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

census vs cents
67% similar
census vs consul
67% similar
census vs censuses
75% similar

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

Key facts for census
PropertyValue
Headwordcensus
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈsɛnsəs/
Letters6
Frequency rank#5,198
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “census”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).censuslands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “cargo” (#5,197), “Christianity” (#5,199), “camps” (#5,196). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “census” is #5,198. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around census (IPA /ˈsɛnsəs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,198 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for census, with forms such as "ccensus", "cennsus", and "censsu". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "cents", "consul", "censuses", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin cēnsus, from cēnseō. See censor. The correct English form is census, spelled C-E-N-S-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    An official count or enumeration of members of a population (not necessarily human), usually residents or citizens in a particular region, often done at regular intervals.
  2. 2
    Count, tally.
  3. 3
    A type of tax levied by feudal lords on peasants.
  4. 4
    A count of the number of individual patterns within a larger pattern, most often the ash of a soup or a methuselah.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how census appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. As you know, the Imperium has never been able to take a census of the Fremen. Everyone thinks that there are but few wandering here and there in the desert. My Lord, I suspect an incredible secret has been kept on this planet: that the Fremen exist in vast numbers- vast- and it is they who control Arrakis.
  2. In what census of living creatures, the dead of mankind are included ...

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cēnsus, from cēnseō. See censor.

This word in other languages

censo(Español)recensement(Français)Zensus(Deutsch)censo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccensus
  • cennsus
  • censsu
  • censsus
  • censuss
  • cenuss
  • cesnus
  • cnesus
  • ecnsus

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of census - 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.

ccensus1cennsus1censsu2censsus1censuss1cenuss2cesnus2cnesus2
Edit distance from "census"

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 "census"?
"census" is spelled C-E-N-S-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsɛnsəs/.
What does "census" mean?
As a noun, "census" means: An official count or enumeration of members of a population (not necessarily human), usually residents or citizens in a particular region, often done at regular intervals.
What words are commonly confused with "census"?
"census" is commonly confused with "cents", "consul", "censuses". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "census"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "census" is /ˈsɛnsəs/. 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 "census"?
Borrowed from Latin cēnsus, from cēnseō. See censor. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "census", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

beside#5,190beings#5,189dealer#5,209deemed#5,210

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

bottles9 variantsethics9 variantsvessels9 variantsstepped9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list