gamma
/ˈɡæ.mə/
"gamma" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gamma” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #11,217 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #11,217
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 4
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The third letter of the Greek alphabet (Γ, γ), preceded by beta (Β, β) and followed by delta, (Δ, δ).
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 | gamma |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡæ.mə/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #11,217 |
| Misspellings tracked | 4 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “gamma” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for gamma is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɡæ.mə/. Corpus data places it at rank #11,217 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 11 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for gamma, with forms such as "agmma", "gamam", and "ggamma". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "gma", "Gaza", "Gaya", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek γάμμα (gámma). Doublet of gimel. The correct English form is gamma, spelled G-A-M-M-A.
Definition
- 1The third letter of the Greek alphabet (Γ, γ), preceded by beta (Β, β) and followed by delta, (Δ, δ).
- 2The letter Ɣɣ, used in the alphabets of several African languages, and in lowercase form in the IPA to represent a voiced velar fricative.
- 3A gamma ray or gamma-ray photon.
- 4The Gamma function, symbolized by Γ.
- 5A constant approximately equal to 0.57721566, symbolized by γ (also known as the Euler–Mascheroni constant).
- 6A non-SI unit of measure of magnetic flux density, equal to 1 nT.
- 7A non-SI unit of measure of mass, equal to 1 microgramme.
- 8Slope of log-log plot of video input and luminance output.
- 9Flight path angle; the angle by which an aircraft's flight path deviates from the horizontal plane.
- 10A second-order measure of derivative price sensitivity, expressed as the rate of change in delta with respect to changes in the underlying asset price.
- 11Synonym of gamma correction.
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek γάμμα (gámma). Doublet of gimel.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: agmma,gamam,ggamma,gmama
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of gamma - 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
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Using “gamma”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-A-M-M-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɡæ.mə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “gma” - see the side-by-side comparison. gamma vs gma
- 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.