centre
/ˈsɛntə/
"centre" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“centre” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,180. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #1,180
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 11
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Australia, British, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and South Africa standard spelling of center.
Corpus desk
Index EN-centre · centre · English
centre · rank #1,180 · 8 variants · 11 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #1,180
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 11 pairs
- VAR-MID 8 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH author
Nearest frequency peer: author (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “centre”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- wide
wide
98,824 corpus weight
- wow
wow
98,823 corpus weight
- author
author
98,822 corpus weight
- centre
centre
98,821 corpus weight
- claim
claim
98,820 corpus weight
- dad
dad
98,819 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “centre” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | centre |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsɛntə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #1,180 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “centre” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 8 spelling variants around centre (IPA /ˈsɛntə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,180 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Australia, British, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and South Africa standard spelling of center.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for centre, with forms such as "ccentre", "cenntre", and "cenrte". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "cents", "conte", "century", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English center, centre, from Middle French centre, from Latin centrum, from Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron), from κεντεῖν (kenteîn, “to prick, goad”). Doublet of centrum. The correct English form is centre, spelled C-E-N-T-R-E.
Definition
- 1Australia, British, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and South Africa standard spelling of center.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how centre appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
So after a short spell in the brass foundry the wisest course was to follow with a similar period in the steel foundry, where much important work was done, including the manufacture of centres for wheels.
The phrase 'Imperial Manila' is used throughout the archipelago to denote the capital-heavy decision-making and the imposition of the will and culture of the political and economic centre on the peripheries.
Etymology
From Middle English center, centre, from Middle French centre, from Latin centrum, from Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron), from κεντεῖν (kenteîn, “to prick, goad”). Doublet of centrum.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ccentre
- cenntre
- cenrte
- centrre
- centtre
- cetnre
- cnetre
- ecntre
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of centre - 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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "centre"?
What does "centre" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "centre"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "centre", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "centre". Here's where to go from here.
- "centre" maps to 11 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "cents". View pair
- 8 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #1,180 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "C" letter cohort. C–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.