influenza

/ˌɪn.fluˈɛn.zə/

//ˌɪn.fluˈɛn.zə// noun

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

"influenza" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“influenza” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #14,773. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#14,773
frequency rank, English
2,140
“I” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An acute contagious disease of the upper airways and lungs, caused by a virus, which rapidly spreads around the world in seasonal epidemics.

Corpus desk

Index EN-influenza · influenza · English

influenza · rank #14,773 · 13 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #14,773
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,140
  • PHOTO-FINISH inflated

Nearest frequency peer: inflated (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “influenza”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “influenza” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

influenza vs influence
78% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for influenza
PropertyValue
Headwordinfluenza
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌɪn.fluˈɛn.zə/
Letters9
Frequency rank#14,773
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “influenza”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).influenzalands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “inflated” (#14,772), “infinitely” (#14,771), “incidentally” (#14,770). Among 2,140 “I” headwords, “influenza” is #14,773. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around influenza (IPA /ˌɪn.fluˈɛn.zə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #14,773 among 2,140 “I” headwords. Dominant gloss: "An acute contagious disease of the upper airways and lungs, caused by a virus, which rapidly spreads around the world in seasonal epidemics.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for influenza, with forms such as "ifnluenza", "inffluenza", and "infleunza". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "influence", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Italian influenza (“influence”), from Latin influentia. Doublet of influence. The correct English form is influenza, spelled I-N-F-L-U-E-N-Z-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    An acute contagious disease of the upper airways and lungs, caused by a virus, which rapidly spreads around the world in seasonal epidemics.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how influenza appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. In early 1919 the Board also issued a film, Dr Wise on Influenza, in which a character called 'Brown' spreads the disease by enacting poor behaviours. This did address transport - by boarding a crowded omnibus, "Brown may be scattering germs throughout the carriage and giving influenza to a number of people".

Etymology

From Italian influenza (“influence”), from Latin influentia. Doublet of influence.

Synonyms

flugrippegrip

This word in other languages

gripe(Español)grippe(Français)Grippe(Deutsch)gripe(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ifnluenza
  • inffluenza
  • infleunza
  • inflluenza
  • influenaz
  • influennza
  • influenzza
  • influezna
  • influneza
  • infulenza
  • inlfuenza
  • innfluenza
  • nifluenza

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of influenza - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ifnluenza2inffluenza1infleunza2inflluenza1influenaz2influennza1influenzza1influezna2
Edit distance from "influenza"

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 "influenza"?
"influenza" is spelled I-N-F-L-U-E-N-Z-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌɪn.fluˈɛn.zə/.
What does "influenza" mean?
As a noun, "influenza" means: An acute contagious disease of the upper airways and lungs, caused by a virus, which rapidly spreads around the world in seasonal epidemics.
What words are commonly confused with "influenza"?
"influenza" is commonly confused with "influence". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "influenza"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "influenza" is /ˌɪn.fluˈɛn.zə/. 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 "influenza"?
From Italian influenza (“influence”), from Latin influentia. Doublet of influence. 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 "influenza", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

massively#14,789mediation#14,791Ethiopian#14,752diversion#14,744

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

Humphrey13 variantsdumpster13 variantsparachute13 variantsquotation13 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list