# dyslexia

> English word · Noun · IPA /dɪsˈlɛk.si.ə/ · frequency rank #28,179

## Definitions
1. A learning disability characterized by reading and writing difficulties.

## Etymology
Learned borrowing from French dyslexie and/or German Dyslexie, coined by German ophthalmologist Rudolf Berlin in 1887, from dys- + lexis + -ia, from Ancient Greek δυσ- (dus-) + λέξις (léxis, “diction”, “word”), from Ancient Greek λέγω (légō, “to speak”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leg- (“to collect, gather; to speak”). The term was coined with λέξις (léxis) being taken to mean "reading," likely due to semantic conflation of Greek λέγω (légō, “to speak”) and Latin legō (“to read”). By surface analysis, dys + lex(is) + -ia.

## Easily confused with
- **dyslexic** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dyslexia-vs-dyslexic)

## Common misspellings (12)
`ddyslexia`, `dsylexia`, `dylsexia`, `dyselxia`, `dysleixa`, `dyslexai`, `dyslexxia`, `dysllexia`, `dyslxeia`, `dysslexia`, `dyyslexia`, `ydslexia`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/dyslexia