externality
/ɛkstəˈnælɪti/
"externality" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“externality” is an uncommon English word, ranked #86,259 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #86,259
- frequency rank, English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The state of being external or externalized.
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See how externality compares against similar English words.
Browse all word comparisons →| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | externality |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɛkstəˈnælɪti/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #86,259 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “externality” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for externality is 11 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɛkstəˈnælɪti/. Corpus data places it at rank #86,259 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.
No misspelling variants are generated for externality in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From external + -ity. In the economic sense coined by British economist Alfred Marshall in 1890. The correct English form is externality, spelled E-X-T-E-R-N-A-L-I-T-Y.
Definition
- 1The state of being external or externalized.
- 2A thing that is external relative to something else.
- 3An impact, positive or negative, on any party not involved in a given economic transaction or act.
Etymology
From external + -ity. In the economic sense coined by British economist Alfred Marshall in 1890.
This word in other languages
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.
Cite this page
Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY-SA). Copy the citation:
PlainSpell, “externality, English word data” (May 6, 2026). Derived from Wiktionary (kaikki.org, CC BY-SA) and an open word-frequency list. https://plainspell.com/en/word/externality
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Using “externality”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-X-T-E-R-N-A-L-I-T-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɛkstəˈnælɪti/ (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
Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter E in our English index: