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easy

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

4 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "easy", 4-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "easy" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "easy" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

easy is anEnglishadj. It means: Comfortable; at ease. Pronounced /ˈiː.zi/. It ranks #511 in English word frequency. Often confused with ES and ey.

Key facts for easy
PropertyValue
Headwordeasy
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdj
IPA/ˈiː.zi/
Letters4
Frequency rank#511
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of easy in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for easy is 4 letters long, classified as anadj, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈiː.zi/. Corpus data places it at rank #511 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 5 documented wrong-spelling variants for easy, with forms such as "aesy", "eassy", and "easyy". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ES", "ey", "eat", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English esy, eesy, partly from Middle English ese (“ease”) + -y, equivalent to ease + -y, and partly from Anglo-Norman eisé from Old French aisié (“eased, at ease, at leisure”), past participle of aisier (“to put at ease”), from aise (“empty spa… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is easy, spelled E-A-S-Y, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Comfortable; at ease.
  2. 2
    Requiring little skill or effort.
  3. 3
    Causing ease; giving comfort, or freedom from care or labour.
  4. 4
    Free from constraint, harshness, or formality; unconstrained; smooth.
  5. 5
    Consenting readily to sex.
  6. 6
    Not making resistance or showing unwillingness; tractable; yielding; compliant.
  7. 7
    Not straitened as to money matters; opposed to tight.

Etymology

From Middle English esy, eesy, partly from Middle English ese (“ease”) + -y, equivalent to ease + -y, and partly from Anglo-Norman eisé from Old French aisié (“eased, at ease, at leisure”), past participle of aisier (“to put at ease”), from aise (“empty space, elbow room, opportunity”), of uncertain origin. See ease. Merged with Middle English ethe, eathe (“easy”), from Old English īeþe, from Proto-Germanic *auþuz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwtus, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew- (“to enjoy, consume”). Compare also Old Saxon ōþi, Old High German ōdi, Old Norse auðr, auð-, Icelandic auð (adverb), auð-, all meaning "easy." More at ease, eath.

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: aesy,eassy,easyy,eays,esay

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for easy

Misspelling Variants of "easy"

aesy4eassy5easyy5eays4esay4
Misspelling Variants of "easy"

Frequency rank: #511 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "easy"?
"easy" is spelled E-A-S-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈiː.zi/.
What does "easy" mean?
As an adj, "easy" means: Comfortable; at ease.
What words are commonly confused with "easy"?
"easy" is commonly confused with "ES", "ey", "eat". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "easy"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "easy" is /ˈiː.zi/. 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 "easy"?
From Middle English esy, eesy, partly from Middle English ese (“ease”) + -y, equivalent to ease + -y, and partly from Anglo-Norman eisé from Old French aisié (“eased, at ease, at leisure”), past participle of aisier (“to put at ease”), from aise (... 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter E in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.