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interface

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

9 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "interface", 9-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "interface" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "interface" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

interface is aEnglishnoun. It means: The point of interconnection or contact between entities. Pronounced /ˈɪntəfeɪs/. It ranks #5,887 in English word frequency. Often confused with interfere and interfaces.

Key facts for interface
PropertyValue
Headwordinterface
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɪntəfeɪs/
Letters9
Frequency rank#5,887
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of interface in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for interface is 9 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɪntəfeɪs/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,887 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 13 documented wrong-spelling variants for interface, with forms such as "inetrface", "innterface", and "intefrace". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "interfere", "interfaces", "interact", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From inter- (“between”) + face (“shape, figure, form”). Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is interface, spelled I-N-T-E-R-F-A-C-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    The point of interconnection or contact between entities.
  2. 2
    A thin layer or boundary between different substances or two phases of a single substance.
  3. 3
    The point of interconnection between systems or subsystems.
  4. 4
    The connection between a user and a machine.
  5. 5
    The connection between parts of software; also the public or published sections of an object or module.
  6. 6
    In object-oriented programming, a piece of code defining a set of operations that other code must implement.
  7. 7
    In some languages, a block of code declaring the interface (point of interconnection) between a class and code that interacts with it.
  8. 8
    The internal surface of a coiled protein (compare exoface).

Etymology

From inter- (“between”) + face (“shape, figure, form”).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: inetrface,innterface,intefrace,interafce,interfacce,interfaec,interfcae,interfface,interrface,intreface,intterface,itnerface,niterface

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for interface

Misspelling Variants of "interface"

inetrface9innterface10intefrace9interafce9interfacce10interfaec9interfcae9interfface10
Misspelling Variants of "interface"

Frequency rank: #5,887 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "interface"?
"interface" is spelled I-N-T-E-R-F-A-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɪntəfeɪs/.
What does "interface" mean?
As a noun, "interface" means: The point of interconnection or contact between entities.
What words are commonly confused with "interface"?
"interface" is commonly confused with "interfere", "interfaces", "interact". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "interface"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "interface" is /ˈɪntəfeɪs/. 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 "interface"?
From inter- (“between”) + face (“shape, figure, form”). 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter I in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.