fossa
/ˈfɒsə/
"fossa" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“fossa” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #48,755. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #48,755
- frequency rank, English
- 18,613
- “F” headwords
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 13
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A pit, groove, cavity, or depression.
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 | fossa |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfɒsə/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #48,755 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 13 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “fossa” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 5 spelling variants around fossa (IPA /ˈfɒsə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #48,755 among 18,613 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for fossa, with forms such as "ffossa", "fosa", and "fosas". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 13 confusable-pair relationships, "FSA", "fuss", "fussy", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Unadapted borrowing from Latin fossa (“a ditch, trench, fosse”). Doublet of fosse. The correct English form is fossa, spelled F-O-S-S-A.
Definition
- 1A pit, groove, cavity, or depression.
- 2A long, narrow, shallow depression on the body of an extraterrestrial body, such as a planet or moon.
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Latin fossa (“a ditch, trench, fosse”). Doublet of fosse.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ffossa
- fosa
- fosas
- fsosa
- ofssa
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fossa - 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 "fossa"?
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Using “fossa”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-O-S-S-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈfɒsə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “FSA” - see the side-by-side comparison. fossa vs FSA
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Same frequency band
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.