era

/ˈɪə.ɹə/

//ˈɪə.ɹə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"era" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“era” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #2,153) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#2,153
frequency rank, English
2,246
“E” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A time period of indeterminate length, generally more than one year.

Corpus desk

Index EN-era · era · English

era · rank #2,153 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,153
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,246
  • PHOTO-FINISH entry

Nearest frequency peer: entry (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “era”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “era” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

era vs ex
33% similar
era vs et
33% similar
era vs EU
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for era
PropertyValue
Headwordera
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɪə.ɹə/
Letters3
Frequency rank#2,153
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “era”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).eralands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “entry” (#2,152), “factor” (#2,154), “drama” (#2,151). Among 2,246 “E” headwords, “era” is #2,153. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for era is neighbouring look-alikes ("ex", "et", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ˈɪə.ɹə/. Frequency #2,153 among 2,246 “E” headwords. 3 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Zero misspellings are on record for era in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ex", "et", "EU", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Late Latin aera. The correct English form is era, spelled E-R-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    A time period of indeterminate length, generally more than one year.
  2. 2
    A geochronologic unit of tens to hundreds of millions of years; a subdivision of an eon, and subdivided into periods.
  3. 3
    An indefinite period of time in one’s life characterized by a particular interest.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how era appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Even in an era when individuality in dress is a cult, his clothes were noticeable. He was wearing a hard hat of the low round kind favoured by hunting men, and with it a black duffle-coat lined with white.
  2. In an era when political leaders promise deliverance from decline through America’s purported preeminence in scientific research, the news that science is in deep trouble in the United States has been as unwelcome as a diagnosis of leukemia following the loss of health insurance.

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin aera.

Synonyms

ageepochperiodcycledayeragenerationGreat YearintervalPlatonic yeartime

This word in other languages

época(Español)ère(Français)Ära(Deutsch)era(Português)

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 "era"?
"era" is spelled E-R-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɪə.ɹə/.
What does "era" mean?
As a noun, "era" means: A time period of indeterminate length, generally more than one year.
What words are commonly confused with "era"?
"era" is commonly confused with "ex", "et", "EU". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "era"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "era" is /ˈɪə.ɹə/. 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 "era"?
Borrowed from Late Latin aera. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "era", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

fox#2,204leg#2,215ray#2,087max#2,222

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list