cycle

/ˈsaɪ.kəl/

//ˈsaɪ.kəl// noun

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

"cycle" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cycle” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,477. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,477
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
11
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An interval of space or time in which one set of events or phenomena is completed.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cycle · cycle · English

cycle · rank #2,477 · 8 variants · 11 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,477
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 11 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH creative

Nearest frequency peer: creative (-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 “cycle”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “cycle” 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).

cycle vs cycles
83% similar
cycle vs cyclic
67% similar
cycle vs cycled
83% similar

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

Key facts for cycle
PropertyValue
Headwordcycle
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈsaɪ.kəl/
Letters5
Frequency rank#2,477
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs11
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “cycle”

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).cyclelands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “creative” (#2,476), “dealing” (#2,478), “bomb” (#2,475). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cycle” is #2,477. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around cycle (IPA /ˈsaɪ.kəl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,477 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 17 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for cycle, with forms such as "ccycle", "ccyle", and "cyccle". 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 11 confusable-pair relationships, "cycles", "cyclic", "cycled", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English cicle (“fixed length period of years”), from Late Latin cyclus, from Ancient Greek κύκλος (kúklos, “circle”), from Proto-Hellenic *kúklos, *kʷókʷlos, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷékʷlos (“circle, wheel”). Doublet of chakra, chakram, chark… The correct English form is cycle, spelled C-Y-C-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    An interval of space or time in which one set of events or phenomena is completed.
  2. 2
    A complete rotation of anything.
  3. 3
    A process that returns to its beginning and then repeats itself in the same sequence.
  4. 4
    The members of the sequence formed by such a process.
  5. 5
    A series of poems, songs or other works of art, typically longer than a trilogy.
  6. 6
    A programme on a washing machine, dishwasher, or other such device.
  7. 7
    A single, a double, a triple, and a home run hit by the same player in the same game.
  8. 8
    A closed walk or path, with or without repeated vertices allowed.
  9. 9
    A chain whose boundary is zero.
  10. 10
    An imaginary circle or orbit in the heavens; one of the celestial spheres.
  11. 11
    An age; a long period of time.
  12. 12
    An orderly list for a given time; a calendar.
  13. 13
    One entire round in a circle or a spire.
  14. 14
    A discharge of a taser.
  15. 15
    One take-off and landing of an aircraft, referring to a pressurisation cycle which places stresses on the fuselage.
  16. 16
    A scheduled period of time of weeks or months wherein a performance-enhancing substance or, by extension, supplement is applied, to be followed by another one where it is not or the dosage is lower.
  17. 17
    A hertz; cycle per second.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. the cycle of the seasons, or of the year
  2. VVages have been tvvice raiſed in my time, and they bear a full proportion, or even a greater than formerly, to the medium of proviſion during the laſt bad cycle of tvventy years.

Etymology

From Middle English cicle (“fixed length period of years”), from Late Latin cyclus, from Ancient Greek κύκλος (kúklos, “circle”), from Proto-Hellenic *kúklos, *kʷókʷlos, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷékʷlos (“circle, wheel”). Doublet of chakra, chakram, charkha, chukker, cyclus, kike, and wheel (see there for more).

This word in other languages

ciclo(Español)tour(Français)Zyklus(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccycle
  • ccyle
  • cyccle
  • cycel
  • cyclle
  • cylce
  • cyycle
  • yccle

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cycle - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ccycle1ccyle2cyccle1cycel2cyclle1cylce2cyycle1yccle2
Edit distance from "cycle"

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 "cycle"?
"cycle" is spelled C-Y-C-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsaɪ.kəl/.
What does "cycle" mean?
As a noun, "cycle" means: An interval of space or time in which one set of events or phenomena is completed.
What words are commonly confused with "cycle"?
"cycle" is commonly confused with "cycles", "cyclic", "cycled". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "cycle"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cycle" is /ˈsaɪ.kəl/. 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 "cycle"?
From Middle English cicle (“fixed length period of years”), from Late Latin cyclus, from Ancient Greek κύκλος (kúklos, “circle”), from Proto-Hellenic *kúklos, *kʷókʷlos, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷékʷlos (“circle, wheel”). Doublet of chakra, chak... 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 "cycle", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

birds#2,474upset#2,470goods#2,486talks#2,467

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

holds8 variantsmedium8 variantsfinds8 variantsdrunk8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list