indium

/ˈɪndi.əm/

//ˈɪndi.əm// noun

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

"indium" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“indium” is uncommon English (frequency #56,828 among 2,140 “I” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#56,828
frequency rank, English
2,140
“I” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A chemical element (symbol In) with an atomic number of 49: a soft silvery-white metal.

Corpus desk

Index EN-indium · indium · English

indium · rank #56,828 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #56,828
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,140
  • PHOTO-FINISH indiscreet

Nearest frequency peer: indiscreet (-1 rank slots)

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.

Long-tail ranks near “indium”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “indium” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for indium
PropertyValue
Headwordindium
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɪndi.əm/
Letters6
Frequency rank#56,828
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “indium” in English

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

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “indiscreet” (#56,827), “indent” (#56,826), “inattentive” (#56,825). Among 2,140 “I” headwords, “indium” is #56,828. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

indium is uncommon English at frequency #56,828 among 2,140 “I” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɪndi.əm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for indium, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: Coined as a New Latin term from German Indigo (“indigo”), based on the color of its spectral lines. The correct English form is indium, spelled I-N-D-I-U-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    A chemical element (symbol In) with an atomic number of 49: a soft silvery-white metal.
  2. 2
    A single atom of this element.

Etymology

Coined as a New Latin term from German Indigo (“indigo”), based on the color of its spectral lines.

This word in other languages

indio(Español)indium(Français)Indium(Deutsch)índio(Português)

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 "indium"?
"indium" is spelled I-N-D-I-U-M. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɪndi.əm/.
What does "indium" mean?
As a noun, "indium" means: A chemical element (symbol In) with an atomic number of 49: a soft silvery-white metal.
How do you pronounce "indium"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "indium" is /ˈɪndi.əm/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "indium"?
Coined as a New Latin term from German Indigo (“indigo”), based on the color of its spectral lines. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "indium", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

indent#56,826hyphae#56,816Kikuyu#56,844kitted#56,848

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list