Esther
/ˈɛstə/
"esther" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Esther” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #12,593 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #12,593
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 10
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A female given name from Persian.
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 | Esther |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈɛstə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #12,593 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Esther” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Esther is 6 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɛstə/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,593 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for Esther, with forms such as "eshter", "essther", and "estehr". 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 10 confusable-pair relationships, "ether", "Ethel", "enter", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek Ἐσθήρ (Esthḗr), from Biblical Hebrew אֶסְתֵּר (ʾestēr). Has been connected to Old Persian 𐎠𐎿𐎫𐎼 (a-s-t-r /star-/, “star”) (whence Middle Persian 𐭮𐭲𐭫 (stl /star/, “star”), 𐭮𐭲𐭠𐭫𐭪 (stʾlk /stārag/, “star”), Persian ستاره (sit… The correct English form is Esther, spelled E-S-T-H-E-R.
Definition
- 1A female given name from Persian.
- 2A book of the Old Testament and the Hebrew Tanakh.
- 3The heroine of the Book of Esther.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek Ἐσθήρ (Esthḗr), from Biblical Hebrew אֶסְתֵּר (ʾestēr). Has been connected to Old Persian 𐎠𐎿𐎫𐎼 (a-s-t-r /star-/, “star”) (whence Middle Persian 𐭮𐭲𐭫 (stl /star/, “star”), 𐭮𐭲𐭠𐭫𐭪 (stʾlk /stārag/, “star”), Persian ستاره (sitāra /setâre, “star”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr (if so, a distant doublet of star); or else to Akkadian 𒀭𒈹 (Ištar, “Ishtar”) (Hebrew עִשְׁתָּר (ʿištār)).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: eshter,essther,estehr,estherr,esthher,esthre,estther,etsher,sether
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Esther - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "Esther"?
What does "Esther" mean?
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Using “Esther”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-S-T-H-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɛstə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “ether” - see the side-by-side comparison. Esther vs ether
- 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.