decile
[ˈdɛsaɪɫ]
"decile" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“decile” is uncommon English (frequency #91,406 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #91,406
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of the values in a series that divides the distribution of individuals in that series into ten groups of equal frequency.
Corpus desk
Index EN-decile · decile · English
decile · rank #91,406 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #91,406
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH deads
Nearest frequency peer: deads (-2 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.
Long-tail ranks near “decile”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- darkling
darkling
8,600 corpus weight
- dbh
dbh
8,598 corpus weight
- deads
deads
8,597 corpus weight
- decile
decile
8,595 corpus weight
- deforested
deforested
8,592 corpus weight
- Delmarva
Delmarva
8,590 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “decile” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | decile |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [ˈdɛsaɪɫ] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #91,406 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “decile” in English
Rare enough to double-check
decile is uncommon English at frequency #91,406 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈdɛsaɪɫ]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
decile has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin decilis, equivalent to dec- + -ile. The correct English form is decile, spelled D-E-C-I-L-E.
Definition
- 1Any of the values in a series that divides the distribution of individuals in that series into ten groups of equal frequency.
- 2Any one of the ten subsets or groups so divided.
- 3An aspect or position of two planets when they are distant from each other a tenth part of the zodiac.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how decile appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Although few people scored high marks, everyone did quite well—the lowest decile was over 50%.
Our school is in the top decile for exam results.
Etymology
From Latin decilis, equivalent to dec- + -ile.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "decile", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).