iris
/ˈaɪ.ɹɪs/
"iris" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“iris” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #10,228. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #10,228
- frequency rank, English
- 2,140
- “I” headwords
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A plant of the genus Iris, common in the northern hemisphere, and generally having attractive blooms (See Iris (plant) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia).
Corpus desk
Index EN-iris · iris · English
iris · rank #10,228 · 5 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #10,228
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 5 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,140
- PHOTO-FINISH insect
Nearest frequency peer: insect (-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 “iris”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- Hugo
Hugo
89,776 corpus weight
- infants
infants
89,775 corpus weight
- insect
insect
89,774 corpus weight
- iris
iris
89,773 corpus weight
- issuing
issuing
89,772 corpus weight
- locking
locking
89,770 corpus weight
What this shows “iris” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | iris |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈaɪ.ɹɪs/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #10,228 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “iris”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 5 spelling variants around iris (IPA /ˈaɪ.ɹɪs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #10,228 among 2,140 “I” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for iris, with forms such as "iirs", "iriss", and "irris". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "is", "its", "IRS", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Latin eira Latin ira Latin irisbor. English iris From Middle English iris, from Latin īris, from Ancient Greek ἶρις (îris, “rainbow”). Presuming an earlier form *ϝῖρις (*wîris), possibly from a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *w(e)ih₁-ro- (… The correct English form is iris, spelled I-R-I-S.
Definition
- 1A plant of the genus Iris, common in the northern hemisphere, and generally having attractive blooms (See Iris (plant) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia).
- 2The contractile membrane perforated by the pupil, which adjusts to control the amount of light reaching the retina, and which forms the colored portion of the eye (See Iris (anatomy) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia).
- 3A diaphragm used to regulate the size of a hole, especially as a way of controlling the amount of light reaching a lens.
- 4A rainbow, or other colourful refraction of light.
- 5A constricted opening in the path inside a waveguide, used to form a resonator.
- 6The inner circle of an oscillated color spot.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how iris appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.
Etymology
Etymology tree Latin eira Latin ira Latin irisbor. English iris From Middle English iris, from Latin īris, from Ancient Greek ἶρις (îris, “rainbow”). Presuming an earlier form *ϝῖρις (*wîris), possibly from a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *w(e)ih₁-ro- (“a twist, thread, cord, wire”), from *weh₁y- (“to turn, twist, weave, plait”). If so, it would be cognate to English wire.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- iirs
- iriss
- irris
- irsi
- riis
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of iris - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "iris", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).