ferrous
/ˈfɛɹəs/
"ferrous" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ferrous” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #37,458 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #37,458
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of or containing iron.
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 | ferrous |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈfɛɹəs/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #37,458 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ferrous” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for ferrous is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfɛɹəs/. Corpus data places it at rank #37,458 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.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for ferrous, with forms such as "efrrous", "ferorus", and "ferous". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "furious", "fibrous", "fervour", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin ferrum (“iron”). The correct English form is ferrous, spelled F-E-R-R-O-U-S.
Definition
- 1Of or containing iron.
- 2Of compounds of iron in which it has a valence or oxidation number of +2.
- 3Of an element: iron, or in certain ways similar to iron. (Said mainly of iron group elements, in any sense of that term.)
Etymology
From Latin ferrum (“iron”).
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: efrrous,ferorus,ferous,ferrosu,ferrouss,ferruos,fferrous,frerous
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ferrous - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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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Using “ferrous”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-E-R-R-O-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈfɛɹəs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “furious” - see the side-by-side comparison. ferrous vs furious
- 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.