civilised

/ˈsɪv.ɪ.laɪzd/

//ˈsɪv.ɪ.laɪzd// verb

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

"civilised" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“civilised” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #26,040. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#26,040
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - simple past and past participle of civilise

Corpus desk

Index EN-civilised · civilised · English

civilised · rank #26,040 · 13 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #26,040
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH Chopra

Nearest frequency peer: Chopra (-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 “civilised”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “civilised” 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).

civilised vs civilized
89% similar

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

Key facts for civilised
PropertyValue
Headwordcivilised
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈsɪv.ɪ.laɪzd/
Letters9
Frequency rank#26,040
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “civilised”

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Chopra” (#26,039), “clearwater” (#26,041), “chivalry” (#26,038). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “civilised” is #26,040. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around civilised (IPA /ˈsɪv.ɪ.laɪzd/), averb. Corpus frequency is #26,040 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Dominant gloss: "simple past and past participle of civilise".

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for civilised, with forms such as "ccivilised", "ciivlised", and "civiilsed". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "civilized", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is civilised, spelled C-I-V-I-L-I-S-E-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    simple past and past participle of civilise

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccivilised
  • ciivlised
  • civiilsed
  • civiliesd
  • civilisde
  • civilisedd
  • civilissed
  • civillised
  • civilsied
  • civliised
  • civvilised
  • cviilised
  • icvilised

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ccivilised1ciivlised2civiilsed2civiliesd2civilisde2civilisedd1civilissed1civillised1
Edit distance from "civilised"

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 "civilised"?
"civilised" is spelled C-I-V-I-L-I-S-E-D. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsɪv.ɪ.laɪzd/.
What does "civilised" mean?
As a verb, "civilised" means: simple past and past participle of civilise
What words are commonly confused with "civilised"?
"civilised" is commonly confused with "civilized". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "civilised"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "civilised" is /ˈsɪv.ɪ.laɪzd/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "civilised" come from?
"civilised" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "civilised", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

champaign#26,035crossfire#26,051Burroughs#26,026diverting#26,066

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

chivalry13 variantscredence13 variantsblushing13 variantsemptying13 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list