externality
/ɛkstəˈnælɪti/
"externality" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“externality” is uncommon English (frequency #86,259 among 2,246 “E” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #86,259
- frequency rank, English
- 2,246
- “E” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The state of being external or externalized.
Corpus desk
Index EN-externality · externality · English
externality · rank #86,259 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #86,259
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,246
- PHOTO-FINISH Exton
Nearest frequency peer: Exton (+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.
Long-tail ranks near “externality”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- ephemeris
ephemeris
13,753 corpus weight
- ERU
ERU
13,750 corpus weight
- ev'ry
ev'ry
13,745 corpus weight
- externality
externality
13,742 corpus weight
- Exton
Exton
13,741 corpus weight
- fancying
fancying
13,736 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “externality” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| 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) |
Long-tail rank of “externality” in English
Rare enough to double-check
externality is uncommon English at frequency #86,259 among 2,246 “E” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɛkstəˈnælɪti/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for externality in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
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.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how externality appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
But according to the theory of the externality of relations, terms acquire from their new relations an added character, which does not either condition, or necessarily alter, the character which they already possess.
Waste is a negative externality arising from consumption.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "externality", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).