folic acid

noun

"folic-acid" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“folic acid” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A polycyclic heterocyclic carboxylic acid, one of the vitamin B complex, essential for cell growth and reproduction

Key facts for folic acid
PropertyValue
Headwordfolic acid
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “folic acid” sits in English frequency

folic acid falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

folic acid is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A polycyclic heterocyclic carboxylic acid, one of the vitamin B complex, essential for cell growth and reproduction".

folic acid has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin folium (“leaf”), from its occurrence in leafy vegetables. The correct English form is folic acid, spelled F-O-L-I-C- -A-C-I-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    A polycyclic heterocyclic carboxylic acid, one of the vitamin B complex, essential for cell growth and reproduction

Etymology

From Latin folium (“leaf”), from its occurrence in leafy vegetables.

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "folic acid"?
"folic acid" is spelled F-O-L-I-C- -A-C-I-D.
What does "folic acid" mean?
As a noun, "folic acid" means: A polycyclic heterocyclic carboxylic acid, one of the vitamin B complex, essential for cell growth and reproduction
What is the origin of the word "folic acid"?
From Latin folium (“leaf”), from its occurrence in leafy vegetables. 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.

Using “folic acid”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is F-O-L-I-C- -A-C-I-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list