ditto
/ˈdɪtəʊ/
"ditto" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ditto” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #17,595 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #17,595
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 16
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - That which was stated before, the aforesaid, the above, the same, likewise.
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 | ditto |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdɪtəʊ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #17,595 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 16 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ditto” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for ditto is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdɪtəʊ/. Corpus data places it at rank #17,595 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for ditto, with forms such as "dditto", "dito", and "ditot". 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 16 confusable-pair relationships, "ditty", "Dutton", "dit", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: First attested in 1625. From regional Italian ditto, variant of detto, past participle of dire (“to say”), from Latin dīcō (“I say, I speak”). Not related to English dittography or Italian dito (“finger”). The specific meaning of making copies of paper come… The correct English form is ditto, spelled D-I-T-T-O.
Definition
- 1That which was stated before, the aforesaid, the above, the same, likewise.
- 2A duplicate or copy of a document, particularly one created by a spirit duplicator.
- 3A copy; an imitation.
- 4The ditto mark, 〃; a symbol, represented by two apostrophes, inverted commas, or quotation marks (" "), indicating that the item preceding is to be repeated.
- 5A suit of clothes of the same color throughout.
- 6A copy made by (run off by) a ditto machine (especially, a worksheet thus reproduced).
Etymology
First attested in 1625. From regional Italian ditto, variant of detto, past participle of dire (“to say”), from Latin dīcō (“I say, I speak”). Not related to English dittography or Italian dito (“finger”). The specific meaning of making copies of paper comes from ditto machine, a genericization from the brand name of a spirit duplicator.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: dditto,dito,ditot,dtito,idtto
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ditto - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “ditto”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-I-T-T-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈdɪtəʊ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “ditty” - see the side-by-side comparison. ditto vs ditty
- 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.