commensal
/kəˈmɛnsəl/
"commensal" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“commensal” is an uncommon English word, ranked #92,481 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #92,481
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of a form of symbiosis in which one organism derives a benefit while the other is unaffected.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | commensal |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /kəˈmɛnsəl/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #92,481 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “commensal” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for commensal is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kəˈmɛnsəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #92,481 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No generated misspelling entries exist for commensal in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English commensal, from Old French commensal, from Medieval Latin commensālis, from com- + mensa (“table”) + -ālis. The correct English form is commensal, spelled C-O-M-M-E-N-S-A-L.
Definition
- 1Of a form of symbiosis in which one organism derives a benefit while the other is unaffected.
- 2Eating at the same table.
Etymology
From Middle English commensal, from Old French commensal, from Medieval Latin commensālis, from com- + mensa (“table”) + -ālis.
This word in other languages
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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Using “commensal”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-O-M-M-E-N-S-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kəˈmɛnsəl/ (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.