Eratosthenes
/ɛɹəˈtɒsθəniz/
"eratosthenes" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Eratosthenes” is uncommon English (frequency #99,229 among 18,836 “E” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #99,229
- frequency rank, English
- 18,836
- “E” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An Ancient Greek polymath at Alexandria, best known for his studies of geography.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Eratosthenes |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ɛɹəˈtɒsθəniz/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Frequency rank | #99,229 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Eratosthenes” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Eratosthenes is uncommon English at frequency #99,229 among 18,836 “E” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ɛɹəˈtɒsθəniz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An Ancient Greek polymath at Alexandria, best known for his studies of geography.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for Eratosthenes, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἐρατοσθένης (Eratosthénēs). The correct English form is Eratosthenes, spelled E-R-A-T-O-S-T-H-E-N-E-S.
Definition
- 1An Ancient Greek polymath at Alexandria, best known for his studies of geography.
Etymology
Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἐρατοσθένης (Eratosthénēs).
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 “Eratosthenes”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-R-A-T-O-S-T-H-E-N-E-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɛɹəˈtɒsθəniz/ (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.