epicentre
/ˈɛpɪˌsɛntɚ/
"epicentre" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“epicentre” is uncommon English (frequency #56,731 among 18,836 “E” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #56,731
- frequency rank, English
- 18,836
- “E” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The point on the land or water surface directly above the focus, or hypocentre, of an earthquake.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | epicentre |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɛpɪˌsɛntɚ/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #56,731 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “epicentre” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
epicentre is uncommon English at frequency #56,731 among 18,836 “E” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɛpɪˌsɛntɚ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
epicentre doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From epi- (“over, on top”) + centre, from Ancient Greek ἐπί (epí, “on”) + κέντρον (kéntron, “centre”). Sense of “center of an activity (particularly a disaster)” (1908) by generalization from earthquakes, possibly influenced by epidemic. The correct English form is epicentre, spelled E-P-I-C-E-N-T-R-E.
Definition
- 1The point on the land or water surface directly above the focus, or hypocentre, of an earthquake.
- 2The point on the surface of the earth directly above an underground explosion.
- 3The focal point of any activity, especially if dangerous or destructive.
- 4The geographical area in which an ongoing disaster, illness, crisis, or other destructive event is currently most severe.
Etymology
From epi- (“over, on top”) + centre, from Ancient Greek ἐπί (epí, “on”) + κέντρον (kéntron, “centre”). Sense of “center of an activity (particularly a disaster)” (1908) by generalization from earthquakes, possibly influenced by epidemic.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
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 “epicentre”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-P-I-C-E-N-T-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɛpɪˌsɛntɚ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.