debye

/dəˈbaɪ/

//dəˈbaɪ// noun

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

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

The verdict

“debye” is uncommon English (frequency #93,604 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#93,604
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The CGS unit of electric dipole moment, defined as 1 D = 10⁻¹⁸ statcoulomb-centimetre and computable from the SI unit coulomb-metre by multiplying by the factor 3.33564 × 10⁻³⁰.

Corpus desk

Index EN-debye · debye · English

debye · rank #93,604 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #93,604
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH Deasy

Nearest frequency peer: Deasy (-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 “debye”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “debye” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for debye
PropertyValue
Headworddebye
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/dəˈbaɪ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#93,604
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “debye” sits in English frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Deasy” (#93,603), “decontaminate” (#93,606), “dazzlingly” (#93,601). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

debye is uncommon English at frequency #93,604 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /dəˈbaɪ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The CGS unit of electric dipole moment, defined as 1 D = 10⁻¹⁸ statcoulomb-centimetre and computable from the SI unit coulomb-metre by multiplying by the factor 3.33564 × 10⁻³⁰.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for debye, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Named after Dutch-American physicist and physical chemist Peter Debye. The correct English form is debye, spelled D-E-B-Y-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The CGS unit of electric dipole moment, defined as 1 D = 10⁻¹⁸ statcoulomb-centimetre and computable from the SI unit coulomb-metre by multiplying by the factor 3.33564 × 10⁻³⁰.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The dipole moments of water and the alcohols are about 1.8 debyes. The moments of ethers are smaller, about 1.2 debyes.
  2. There is considerable transfer of negative charge to the carbon atoms in the pyrrole ring, which give it a high dipole moment ≈ 1.8 Debyes.

Etymology

Named after Dutch-American physicist and physical chemist Peter Debye.

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 "debye"?
"debye" is spelled D-E-B-Y-E. The IPA pronunciation is /dəˈbaɪ/.
What does "debye" mean?
As a noun, "debye" means: The CGS unit of electric dipole moment, defined as 1 D = 10⁻¹⁸ statcoulomb-centimetre and computable from the SI unit coulomb-metre by multiplying by the factor 3.33564 × 10⁻³⁰.
How do you pronounce "debye"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "debye" is /dəˈbaɪ/. 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 "debye"?
Named after Dutch-American physicist and physical chemist Peter Debye. 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 "debye", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Deasy#93,603Demir#93,610Cuneo#93,588dinna#93,620

What to do next

You've looked up "debye". Here's where to go from here.

  • Usage frequency rank #93,604 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "D" letter cohort. D–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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list