electrode
/əˈlɛk.tɹəʊd/
"electrode" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“electrode” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #17,604 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #17,604
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The terminal through which electric current passes between metallic and nonmetallic parts of an electric circuit.
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 | electrode |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /əˈlɛk.tɹəʊd/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #17,604 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “electrode” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for electrode is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈlɛk.tɹəʊd/. Corpus data places it at rank #17,604 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for electrode, with forms such as "eelctrode", "elcetrode", and "elecctrode". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "electron", "electrons", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Coined by British scientist Michael Faraday in 1833, first used in his Diary (laboratory notebook) from the Ancient Greek words ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron, “amber”) (from which the word electricity is derived) and ὁδός (hodós, “way”). By surface analysis, electro- … The correct English form is electrode, spelled E-L-E-C-T-R-O-D-E.
Definition
- 1The terminal through which electric current passes between metallic and nonmetallic parts of an electric circuit.
- 2A collector or emitter of electric charge in a semiconducting device.
Etymology
Coined by British scientist Michael Faraday in 1833, first used in his Diary (laboratory notebook) from the Ancient Greek words ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron, “amber”) (from which the word electricity is derived) and ὁδός (hodós, “way”). By surface analysis, electro- + -ode
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: eelctrode,elcetrode,elecctrode,elecrtode,electorde,electrdoe,electrodde,electroed,electrrode,electtrode,eletcrode,ellectrode,leectrode
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of electrode - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 “electrode”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-L-E-C-T-R-O-D-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əˈlɛk.tɹəʊd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “electron” - see the side-by-side comparison. electrode vs electron
- 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.