glycolysis

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"glycolysis" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“glycolysis” is uncommon English (frequency #61,497 among 18,276 “G” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#61,497
frequency rank, English
18,276
“G” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The cellular degradation of the simple sugar glucose to yield pyruvic acid, and ATP as an energy source

Key facts for glycolysis
PropertyValue
Headwordglycolysis
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Frequency rank#61,497
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “glycolysis” sits in English frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

glycolysis is uncommon English at frequency #61,497 among 18,276 “G” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The cellular degradation of the simple sugar glucose to yield pyruvic acid, and ATP as an energy source".

glycolysis doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From glyco- + -lysis. The correct English form is glycolysis, spelled G-L-Y-C-O-L-Y-S-I-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    The cellular degradation of the simple sugar glucose to yield pyruvic acid, and ATP as an energy source

Etymology

From glyco- + -lysis.

This word in other languages

glycolyse(Français)

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 "glycolysis"?
"glycolysis" is spelled G-L-Y-C-O-L-Y-S-I-S.
What does "glycolysis" mean?
As a noun, "glycolysis" means: The cellular degradation of the simple sugar glucose to yield pyruvic acid, and ATP as an energy source
What is the origin of the word "glycolysis"?
From glyco- + -lysis. 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 “glycolysis”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is G-L-Y-C-O-L-Y-S-I-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list