diatom
/ˈdaɪ.ə.təm/
"diatom" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“diatom” is uncommon English (frequency #84,167 among 26,416 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #84,167
- frequency rank, English
- 26,416
- “D” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of a group of minute unicellular algae having a siliceous covering of great delicacy, now categorized as class Diatomophyceae or division Bacillariophyta.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | diatom |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdaɪ.ə.təm/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #84,167 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “diatom” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
diatom is uncommon English at frequency #84,167 among 26,416 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈdaɪ.ə.təm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Any of a group of minute unicellular algae having a siliceous covering of great delicacy, now categorized as class Diatomophyceae or division Bacillariophyta.".
No misspelling variants are generated for diatom in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From (deprecated) genus name Diatoma, from Ancient Greek διάτομος (diátomos, “cut through, cut in half”). The correct English form is diatom, spelled D-I-A-T-O-M.
Definition
- 1Any of a group of minute unicellular algae having a siliceous covering of great delicacy, now categorized as class Diatomophyceae or division Bacillariophyta.
Etymology
From (deprecated) genus name Diatoma, from Ancient Greek διάτομος (diátomos, “cut through, cut in half”).
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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Using “diatom”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-I-A-T-O-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈdaɪ.ə.təm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.