ex

/ɛks/

//ɛks// noun

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

"ex" is a 2-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“ex” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #1,633) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#1,633
frequency rank, English
2,246
“E” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The name of the Latin script letter X/x.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ex · ex · English

ex · rank #1,633 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,633
  • LEN-SHORT 2 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,246
  • PHOTO-FINISH enter

Nearest frequency peer: enter (-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 neighbourhood for “ex”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “ex” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

ex vs ey
50% similar
ex vs ez
50% similar
ex vs eye
33% similar

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

Key facts for ex
PropertyValue
Headwordex
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɛks/
Letters2
Frequency rank#1,633
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “ex” sits in English frequency

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).exlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “enter” (#1,632), “follows” (#1,634), “employees” (#1,631). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for ex is neighbouring look-alikes ("ey", "ez", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ɛks/. Frequency #1,633 among 2,246 “E” headwords. Gloss: "The name of the Latin script letter X/x.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for ex in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ey", "ez", "eye", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin ex. The correct English form is ex, spelled E-X.

Definition

  1. 1
    The name of the Latin script letter X/x.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Thus first C checks to see if ex and wye are equal. The resulting value of 1 or 0 (true or false) then is compared to the value of zee.

Etymology

From Latin ex.

This word in other languages

equis(Español)ixe(Français)Ix(Deutsch)

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 "ex"?
"ex" is spelled E-X. The IPA pronunciation is /ɛks/.
What does "ex" mean?
As a noun, "ex" means: The name of the Latin script letter X/x.
What words are commonly confused with "ex"?
"ex" is commonly confused with "ey", "ez", "eye". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ex"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ex" is /ɛks/. 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 "ex"?
From Latin ex. 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.

What to do next

You've looked up "ex". Here's where to go from here.

  • "ex" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "ey". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #1,633 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "E" letter cohort. E–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list