ester
/ˈɛstɚ/
"ester" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ester” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #26,780 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #26,780
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A compound most often formed by the condensation of an alcohol and an acid, with elimination of water, which contains the functional group carbon-oxygen double bond (i.e., carbonyl) joined via carb...
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 | ester |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɛstɚ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #26,780 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ester” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for ester is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɛstɚ/. Corpus data places it at rank #26,780 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A compound most often formed by the condensation of an alcohol and an acid, with elimination of water, which contains the functional group carbon-oxygen double bond (i.e., carbonyl) joined via carb...".
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for ester, with forms such as "esetr", "esster", and "esterr". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ever", "ether", "Estes", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From German Ester, perhaps a contraction or abstraction of Essigäther (“ethyl acetate”), from Essig (“vinegar”) (from Latin acetum) and Äther (“ether”). See ether for more. The correct English form is ester, spelled E-S-T-E-R.
Definition
- 1A compound most often formed by the condensation of an alcohol and an acid, with elimination of water, which contains the functional group carbon-oxygen double bond (i.e., carbonyl) joined via carbon to another oxygen atom.
Etymology
From German Ester, perhaps a contraction or abstraction of Essigäther (“ethyl acetate”), from Essig (“vinegar”) (from Latin acetum) and Äther (“ether”). See ether for more.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: esetr,esster,esterr,estre,estter,etser
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ester - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “ester”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-S-T-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɛstɚ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “ever” - see the side-by-side comparison. ester vs ever
- 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.