commerce

/ˈkɒm.əs/

//ˈkɒm.əs// noun

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

"commerce" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“commerce” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,803. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,803
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The exchange or buying and selling of commodities; especially the exchange of merchandise, on a large scale, between different places or communities; extended trade or traffic.

Corpus desk

Index EN-commerce · commerce · English

commerce · rank #3,803 · 10 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,803
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH collect

Nearest frequency peer: collect (-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 “commerce”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “commerce” 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).

commerce vs coerce
75% similar
commerce vs commence
88% similar
commerce vs commenced
78% similar

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

Key facts for commerce
PropertyValue
Headwordcommerce
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkɒm.əs/
Letters8
Frequency rank#3,803
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “commerce”

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “collect” (#3,802), “cop” (#3,804), “creek” (#3,805). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “commerce” is #3,803. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around commerce (IPA /ˈkɒm.əs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,803 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for commerce, with forms such as "ccommerce", "cmomerce", and "comemrce". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "coerce", "commence", "commenced", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French commerce, from Latin commercium. Doublet of comess. The correct English form is commerce, spelled C-O-M-M-E-R-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The exchange or buying and selling of commodities; especially the exchange of merchandise, on a large scale, between different places or communities; extended trade or traffic.
  2. 2
    Social intercourse; the dealings of one person or class in society with another; familiarity.
  3. 3
    Sexual intercourse.
  4. 4
    An 18th-century French card game in which the cards are subject to exchange, barter, or trade.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. [A]ll libertine diſcourſe, and familiarities vvith vvomen, […] nay even friendſhip it ſelfe […] muſt be vvatched vvith great prudence to be kept ſafe: for vvhich cauſe in ſtead of all theſe perillous commerces of our love, I vvill preferre ſo ſecure an object to it, […]
  2. Fifteen years of thought, observation, and commerce with the world had made him [Bunyan] wiser.

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French commerce, from Latin commercium. Doublet of comess.

Synonyms

tradetrafficdealingsintercourseinterchangecommunioncommunication

This word in other languages

comercio(Español)commerce(Français)Handel(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccommerce
  • cmomerce
  • comemrce
  • comerce
  • commecre
  • commercce
  • commerec
  • commerrce
  • commrece
  • ocmmerce

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ccommerce1cmomerce2comemrce2comerce1commecre2commercce1commerec2commerrce1
Edit distance from "commerce"

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 "commerce"?
"commerce" is spelled C-O-M-M-E-R-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkɒm.əs/.
What does "commerce" mean?
As a noun, "commerce" means: The exchange or buying and selling of commodities; especially the exchange of merchandise, on a large scale, between different places or communities; extended trade or traffic.
What words are commonly confused with "commerce"?
"commerce" is commonly confused with "coerce", "commence", "commenced". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "commerce"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "commerce" is /ˈkɒm.əs/. 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 "commerce"?
Borrowed from Middle French commerce, from Latin commercium. Doublet of comess. 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 "commerce", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

currency#3,806emotions#3,807suitable#3,790subjects#3,788

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

Atlanta10 variantsfuneral10 variantswhilst10 variantsthirty10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list