decade
/ˈdɛkeɪd/
"decade" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“decade” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,886 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #2,886
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A group, set, or series of ten , particularly
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | decade |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdɛkeɪd/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #2,886 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “decade” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for decade is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdɛkeɪd/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,886 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for decade, with forms such as "dceade", "ddecade", and "deacde". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "decay", "decal", "decaf", 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 decade, from Old French decade, from Late Latin decādem (“(set of) ten”), from Ancient Greek δεκάς (dekás), from δέκα (déka, “ten”). In reference to a span of ten years, originally a clipping of the phrase decade of years. By surface ana… The correct English form is decade, spelled D-E-C-A-D-E.
Definition
- 1A group, set, or series of ten , particularly
- 2A group, set, or series of ten
- 3A group, set, or series of ten
- 4A group, set, or series of ten
- 5A group, set, or series of ten
- 6A group, set, or series of ten
- 7A group, set, or series of ten
- 8A set of resistors, capacitors, etc. connected so as to provide even increments between one and ten times a base electrical resistance.
- 9The interval between any two quantities having a ratio of 10 to 1.
Etymology
From Middle English decade, from Old French decade, from Late Latin decādem (“(set of) ten”), from Ancient Greek δεκάς (dekás), from δέκα (déka, “ten”). In reference to a span of ten years, originally a clipping of the phrase decade of years. By surface analysis, dec- + -ade. Doublet of decad and dekad.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: dceade,ddecade,deacde,decadde,decaed,deccade,decdae,edcade
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of decade - 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.
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 “decade”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-E-C-A-D-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈdɛkeɪd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “decay” - see the side-by-side comparison. decade vs decay
- 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.