diabetes

/ˌdaɪəˈbiːtiːz/

//ˌdaɪəˈbiːtiːz// noun

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

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

The verdict

“diabetes” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,413. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,413
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Diabetes mellitus; any of a group of metabolic diseases whereby a person (or other animal) has high blood sugar due to an inability to produce, or inability to metabolize, sufficient quantities of ...

Corpus desk

Index EN-diabetes · diabetes · English

diabetes · rank #5,413 · 11 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,413
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH defeated

Nearest frequency peer: defeated (-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 “diabetes”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “diabetes” 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).

diabetes vs diameter
75% similar
diabetes vs diabetic
75% similar

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

Key facts for diabetes
PropertyValue
Headworddiabetes
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌdaɪəˈbiːtiːz/
Letters8
Frequency rank#5,413
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “diabetes”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).diabeteslands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “defeated” (#5,412), “dressing” (#5,414), “decrease” (#5,411). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “diabetes” is #5,413. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around diabetes (IPA /ˌdaɪəˈbiːtiːz/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,413 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for diabetes, with forms such as "daibetes", "ddiabetes", and "diabbetes". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "diameter", "diabetic", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin diabētēs (“siphon”), from Ancient Greek διαβήτης (diabḗtēs), from Ancient Greek διαβαίνω (diabaínō, “to pass through”). The correct English form is diabetes, spelled D-I-A-B-E-T-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Diabetes mellitus; any of a group of metabolic diseases whereby a person (or other animal) has high blood sugar due to an inability to produce, or inability to metabolize, sufficient quantities of the hormone insulin.
  2. 2
    Any food or beverage with a high amount of sugar.
  3. 3
    Diabetes insipidus; any condition characterized by excessive or incontinent urine, now specifically as caused by impaired production of, or response to, the antidiuretic hormone vasopressin.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. In the UK, one in 10 people over 40 live with type 2 diabetes, while one in four have high blood pressure, a condition described as a “silent killer” because it increases the risk of heart attack and stroke but rarely causes symptoms beforehand.
  2. This milkshake is pure diabetes, as my friends and I agreed on as a joke when we first came to Black Tap.

Etymology

From Latin diabētēs (“siphon”), from Ancient Greek διαβήτης (diabḗtēs), from Ancient Greek διαβαίνω (diabaínō, “to pass through”).

Synonyms

diabetes mellitusDMdiabeetus

This word in other languages

diabetes(Español)diabète(Français)Diabetes(Deutsch)diabetes(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • daibetes
  • ddiabetes
  • diabbetes
  • diabeets
  • diabetess
  • diabetse
  • diabettes
  • diabtees
  • diaebtes
  • dibaetes
  • idabetes

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of diabetes - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

daibetes2ddiabetes1diabbetes1diabeets2diabetess1diabetse2diabettes1diabtees2
Edit distance from "diabetes"

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 "diabetes"?
"diabetes" is spelled D-I-A-B-E-T-E-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌdaɪəˈbiːtiːz/.
What does "diabetes" mean?
As a noun, "diabetes" means: Diabetes mellitus; any of a group of metabolic diseases whereby a person (or other animal) has high blood sugar due to an inability to produce, or inability to metabolize, sufficient quantities of ...
What words are commonly confused with "diabetes"?
"diabetes" is commonly confused with "diameter", "diabetic". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "diabetes"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "diabetes" is /ˌdaɪəˈbiːtiːz/. 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 "diabetes"?
From Latin diabētēs (“siphon”), from Ancient Greek διαβήτης (diabḗtēs), from Ancient Greek διαβαίνω (diabaínō, “to pass through”). 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 "diabetes", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

defeated#5,412dressing#5,414decrease#5,411contrary#5,404

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

colonial11 variantsloyalty11 variantsaviation11 variantsplacing11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list