diagnose
/ˈdʌɪ.əɡˌnəʊz/
"diagnose" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“diagnose” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #16,889 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #16,889
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To determine which disease is causing a sick person's signs and symptoms; to find the diagnosis.
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 | diagnose |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈdʌɪ.əɡˌnəʊz/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #16,889 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “diagnose” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for diagnose is 8 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdʌɪ.əɡˌnəʊz/. Corpus data places it at rank #16,889 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for diagnose, with forms such as "daignose", "ddiagnose", and "diaggnose". 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, "diagnosis", "diagnoses", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Back-formation from diagnosis. Compare also sclerose (verb). The correct English form is diagnose, spelled D-I-A-G-N-O-S-E.
Definition
- 1To determine which disease is causing a sick person's signs and symptoms; to find the diagnosis.
- 2To determine the cause of a problem.
Etymology
Back-formation from diagnosis. Compare also sclerose (verb).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: daignose,ddiagnose,diaggnose,diagnnose,diagnoes,diagnosse,diagnsoe,diagonse,diangose,diganose,idagnose
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of diagnose - 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 “diagnose”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-I-A-G-N-O-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈdʌɪ.əɡˌnəʊz/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “diagnosis” - see the side-by-side comparison. diagnose vs diagnosis
- 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.