familiarize
/fəˈmɪliəɹaɪ̯z/
"familiarize" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“familiarize” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #37,454 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #37,454
- frequency rank, English
- 11
- letters
- 15
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To make or become familiar with something or someone.
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 | familiarize |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /fəˈmɪliəɹaɪ̯z/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #37,454 |
| Misspellings tracked | 15 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “familiarize” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for familiarize is 11 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /fəˈmɪliəɹaɪ̯z/. Corpus data places it at rank #37,454 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "To make or become familiar with something or someone.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for familiarize, with forms such as "afmiliarize", "faimliarize", and "famiilarize". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "familiarity", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From familiar + -ize. The correct English form is familiarize, spelled F-A-M-I-L-I-A-R-I-Z-E.
Definition
- 1To make or become familiar with something or someone.
Etymology
From familiar + -ize.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: afmiliarize,faimliarize,famiilarize,familairize,familiairze,familiariez,familiarizze,familiarrize,familiarzie,familiraize,familliarize,famliiarize,fammiliarize,ffamiliarize,fmailiarize
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of familiarize - 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 "familiarize"?
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Using “familiarize”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-A-M-I-L-I-A-R-I-Z-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /fəˈmɪliəɹaɪ̯z/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “familiarity” - see the side-by-side comparison. familiarize vs familiarity
- 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.