emergency
/ɪˈmɜː(ɹ).dʒən.si/
"emergency" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“emergency” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,935 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #1,935
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 14
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A situation which poses an immediate risk and which requires urgent attention.
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 | emergency |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɪˈmɜː(ɹ).dʒən.si/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #1,935 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “emergency” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for emergency is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪˈmɜː(ɹ).dʒən.si/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,935 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for emergency, with forms such as "eemrgency", "emegrency", and "emeregncy". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "emergent", "emergence", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Medieval Latin emergentia, from Latin emergens, present participle of emergo (“to emerge, arise, come forth”), equivalent to emergent + -cy or emerge + -ency. Doublet of emergence. The correct English form is emergency, spelled E-M-E-R-G-E-N-C-Y.
Definition
- 1A situation which poses an immediate risk and which requires urgent attention.
- 2The department of a hospital that treats emergencies.
- 3A person brought in at short notice to replace a member of staff, a player in a sporting team, etc.
- 4The quality of being emergent; sudden or unexpected appearance; an unforeseen occurrence.
- 5A critical urge to urinate or defecate.
Etymology
Borrowed from Medieval Latin emergentia, from Latin emergens, present participle of emergo (“to emerge, arise, come forth”), equivalent to emergent + -cy or emerge + -ency. Doublet of emergence.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: eemrgency,emegrency,emeregncy,emergecny,emergenccy,emergencyy,emergenncy,emergenyc,emerggency,emergnecy,emerrgency,emmergency,emregency,meergency
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of emergency - 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
How do you spell "emergency"?
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Using “emergency”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-M-E-R-G-E-N-C-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪˈmɜː(ɹ).dʒən.si/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “emergent” - see the side-by-side comparison. emergency vs emergent
- 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.