femtosecond

noun

"femtosecond" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“femtosecond” is uncommon English (frequency #84,242 among 2,507 “F” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#84,242
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An SI unit of time equal to 10⁻¹⁵ seconds. Symbol: fs

Corpus desk

Index EN-femtosecond · femtosecond · English

femtosecond · rank #84,242 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #84,242
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH fetter

Nearest frequency peer: fetter (+3 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 “femtosecond”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “femtosecond” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for femtosecond
PropertyValue
Headwordfemtosecond
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters11
Frequency rank#84,242
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “femtosecond” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).femtosecondfalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “fetter” (#84,245), “faubourg” (#84,238), “FATT” (#84,237). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “femtosecond” is #84,242. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

femtosecond is uncommon English at frequency #84,242 among 2,507 “F” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An SI unit of time equal to 10⁻¹⁵ seconds. Symbol: fs".

Zero misspellings are on record for femtosecond in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From femto- + second. The correct English form is femtosecond, spelled F-E-M-T-O-S-E-C-O-N-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    An SI unit of time equal to 10⁻¹⁵ seconds. Symbol: fs

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Holonyms: picosecond < nanosecond < microsecond < millisecond < centisecond < decisecond < second < decasecond < minute < hectosecond < kilosecond < hour < day < week < megasecond < fortnight < month < year < gigasecond < century < kiloannum, kiloyear, millennium < terasecond < mega-annum, megayear < petasecond < giga-annum, gigayear < exasecond < zettase…
  2. Meronyms: quectosecond < rontosecond < yoctosecond < zeptosecond < attosecond

Etymology

From femto- + second.

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

How do you spell "femtosecond"?
"femtosecond" is spelled F-E-M-T-O-S-E-C-O-N-D.
What does "femtosecond" mean?
As a noun, "femtosecond" means: An SI unit of time equal to 10⁻¹⁵ seconds. Symbol: fs
What is the origin of the word "femtosecond"?
From femto- + second. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "femtosecond", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list