disability

/dɪsəˈbɪlɪti/

//dɪsəˈbɪlɪti// noun

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

"disability" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“disability” has 15 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,027. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,027
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
15
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A condition characterised by a significant limitation in a person's physical or intellectual powers or ability.

Corpus desk

Index EN-disability · disability · English

disability · rank #5,027 · 15 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,027
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH difficulties

Nearest frequency peer: difficulties (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “disability”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “disability” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

disability vs durability
80% similar

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

Key facts for disability
PropertyValue
Headworddisability
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/dɪsəˈbɪlɪti/
Letters10
Frequency rank#5,027
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “disability” sits in English frequency

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).disabilitylands 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 “difficulties” (#5,026), “dish” (#5,028), “detective” (#5,025). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around disability (IPA /dɪsəˈbɪlɪti/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,027 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for disability, with forms such as "ddisability", "diasbility", and "disabbility". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "durability", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Circa 1570 disable + -ity. The correct English form is disability, spelled D-I-S-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A condition characterised by a significant limitation in a person's physical or intellectual powers or ability.
  2. 2
    The state of having such a condition; the state of being disabled.
  3. 3
    A limitation in function (the things that a person can do or achieve) that is driven by any combination of their impairments (the medical facts about them) and the imperfect state of society's inaccessibility that sometimes fails to accommodate their needs.
  4. 4
    An inability.
  5. 5
    A lack of legal qualification to do something; legal incapacity or incompetency.
  6. 6
    Regular payments received by a disabled person, usually from the state.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. people with disabilities
  2. Chatham refused to see him, pleading his disability. The King himself intervened by a letter[…]Chatham yielded to such persuasion; though suffering from a universal tremor.

Etymology

Circa 1570 disable + -ity.

This word in other languages

incapacidad(Español)invalidité(Français)Behinderung(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddisability
  • diasbility
  • disabbility
  • disabiilty
  • disabilitty
  • disabilityy
  • disabiliyt
  • disabillity
  • disabiltiy
  • disabliity
  • disaiblity
  • disbaility
  • dissability
  • dsiability
  • idsability

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of disability - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ddisability1diasbility2disabbility1disabiilty2disabilitty1disabilityy1disabiliyt2disabillity1
Edit distance from "disability"

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 "disability"?
"disability" is spelled D-I-S-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /dɪsəˈbɪlɪti/.
What does "disability" mean?
As a noun, "disability" means: A condition characterised by a significant limitation in a person's physical or intellectual powers or ability.
What words are commonly confused with "disability"?
"disability" is commonly confused with "durability". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "disability"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "disability" is /dɪsəˈbɪlɪti/. 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 "disability"?
Circa 1570 disable + -ity. 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 "disability", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

evaluation#5,034continuous#5,018repeatedly#5,077productive#4,975

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

collections15 variantshighlight15 variantsoperational15 variantsmotivation15 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "disability". Here's where to go from here.

  • This headword has one recorded confusable pair with "durability". View pair
  • 15 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #5,027 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "D" letter cohort. D–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list