diatomaceous

/ˌdaɪ.ə.təˈmeɪ.ʃəs/

//ˌdaɪ.ə.təˈmeɪ.ʃəs// adj

"diatomaceous" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“diatomaceous” is uncommon English (frequency #76,713 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#76,713
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of, pertaining to, or containing diatoms or their coverings.

Corpus desk

Index EN-diatomaceous · diatomaceous · English

diatomaceous · rank #76,713 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #76,713
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-7 7 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH Dickensian

Nearest frequency peer: Dickensian (+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.

Long-tail ranks near “diatomaceous”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “diatomaceous” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for diatomaceous
PropertyValue
Headworddiatomaceous
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˌdaɪ.ə.təˈmeɪ.ʃəs/
Letters12
Frequency rank#76,713
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “diatomaceous” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).diatomaceousfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Dickensian” (#76,714), “Dini” (#76,715), “DFO” (#76,710). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “diatomaceous” is #76,713. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

diatomaceous is uncommon English at frequency #76,713 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˌdaɪ.ə.təˈmeɪ.ʃəs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Of, pertaining to, or containing diatoms or their coverings.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for diatomaceous, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From diatom + -aceous. The correct English form is diatomaceous, spelled D-I-A-T-O-M-A-C-E-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of, pertaining to, or containing diatoms or their coverings.

Etymology

From diatom + -aceous.

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 "diatomaceous"?
"diatomaceous" is spelled D-I-A-T-O-M-A-C-E-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌdaɪ.ə.təˈmeɪ.ʃəs/.
What does "diatomaceous" mean?
As an adjective, "diatomaceous" means: Of, pertaining to, or containing diatoms or their coverings.
How do you pronounce "diatomaceous"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "diatomaceous" is /ˌdaɪ.ə.təˈmeɪ.ʃəs/. 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 "diatomaceous"?
From diatom + -aceous. 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 "diatomaceous", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 12 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list