hypocentre
"hypocentre" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hypocentre” 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) - The focus of an earthquake, directly under the epicentre.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | hypocentre |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hypocentre” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
hypocentre is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
hypocentre has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From hypo- + centre; from Ancient Greek ὑπο- (hupo-, “under-, sub-”) and Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron, “centre”). The correct English form is hypocentre, spelled H-Y-P-O-C-E-N-T-R-E.
Definition
- 1The focus of an earthquake, directly under the epicentre.
- 2The point on the surface below an atmospheric explosion; ground zero
Etymology
From hypo- + centre; from Ancient Greek ὑπο- (hupo-, “under-, sub-”) and Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron, “centre”).
Antonyms
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
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Using “hypocentre”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-Y-P-O-C-E-N-T-R-E - 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.