in order to
"in-order-to" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“in order to” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a conjunction. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - before an infinitive: As a means of achieving the specified end; to.
Corpus desk
Index EN-in-order-to · in order to · English
in order to · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "I" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | in order to |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Conjunction |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “in order to” in English
Rare enough to double-check
in order to is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aconjunction. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "before an infinitive: As a means of achieving the specified end; to.".
in order to doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is in order to, spelled I-N- -O-R-D-E-R- -T-O.
Definition
- 1before an infinitive: As a means of achieving the specified end; to.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how in order to appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Here we were nearly 8 min. early, and was now a matter of spinning out time, as indeed we did—losing 3 min. from Penrith to Carlisle!—in order not to run into Carlisle more than 5 min. early.
She stood in order to see over the crowd. / She stood to see over the crowd.
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.