disease

/dɪˈziːz/

//dɪˈziːz// noun

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

"disease" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“disease” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,331. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,331
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An abnormal condition of a human, animal or plant that causes discomfort or dysfunction; distinct from injury insofar as the latter is usually instantaneously acquired.

Corpus desk

Index EN-disease · disease · English

disease · rank #1,331 · 9 variants · 8 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,331
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH directly

Nearest frequency peer: directly (-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 “disease”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “disease” 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).

disease vs disuse
71% similar
disease vs diverse
71% similar
disease vs dispose
71% similar

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

Key facts for disease
PropertyValue
Headworddisease
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/dɪˈziːz/
Letters7
Frequency rank#1,331
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “disease”

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).diseaselands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “directly” (#1,330), “doctor” (#1,332), “damage” (#1,329). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “disease” is #1,331. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around disease (IPA /dɪˈziːz/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,331 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for disease, with forms such as "ddisease", "diesase", and "disaese". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "disuse", "diverse", "dispose", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English disese, from Anglo-Norman desese, disaise, from Old French desaise, from des- + aise. Displaced native Middle English adle, audle (“disease”) (from Old English ādl (“disease, sickness”), see adle), Middle English cothe, coathe (“disease”… The correct English form is disease, spelled D-I-S-E-A-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    An abnormal condition of a human, animal or plant that causes discomfort or dysfunction; distinct from injury insofar as the latter is usually instantaneously acquired.
  2. 2
    Any abnormal or harmful condition, as of society, people's attitudes, way of living etc.
  3. 3
    A lack of ease; uneasiness; trouble; vexation; disquiet.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The tomato plants had some kind of disease that left their leaves splotchy and fruit withered.
  2. […] diſeaſes deſperate growne, By deſperate appliance are releeued, Or not at all.

Etymology

From Middle English disese, from Anglo-Norman desese, disaise, from Old French desaise, from des- + aise. Displaced native Middle English adle, audle (“disease”) (from Old English ādl (“disease, sickness”), see adle), Middle English cothe, coathe (“disease”) (from Old English coþu (“disease”), see coath). By surface analysis, dis- + ease.

Synonyms

disease § Synonymsafflictionailmentcoathcomplaintdiseasedisorderegritudeill healthillnessindispositionsicknesstroublemaladymorbusrot

Antonyms

halenesshealthhealthinessheartiness

This word in other languages

enfermedad(Español)maladie(Français)Krankheit(Deutsch)doença(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddisease
  • diesase
  • disaese
  • diseaes
  • diseasse
  • disesae
  • dissease
  • dsiease
  • idsease

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of disease - 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.

ddisease1diesase2disaese2diseaes2diseasse1disesae2dissease1dsiease2
Edit distance from "disease"

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 "disease"?
"disease" is spelled D-I-S-E-A-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is /dɪˈziːz/.
What does "disease" mean?
As a noun, "disease" means: An abnormal condition of a human, animal or plant that causes discomfort or dysfunction; distinct from injury insofar as the latter is usually instantaneously acquired.
What words are commonly confused with "disease"?
"disease" is commonly confused with "disuse", "diverse", "dispose". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "disease"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "disease" is /dɪˈziːz/. 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 "disease"?
From Middle English disese, from Anglo-Norman desese, disaise, from Old French desaise, from des- + aise. Displaced native Middle English adle, audle (“disease”) (from Old English ādl (“disease, sickness”), see adle), Middle English cothe, coathe ... 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 "disease", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

driving#1,335Germany#1,341greater#1,343largest#1,345

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

doctor9 variantsclosed9 variantscaught9 variantsmarriage9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list