irradiance

/ɪˈɹeɪ.di.əns/

//ɪˈɹeɪ.di.əns// noun

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

"irradiance" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“irradiance” is uncommon English (frequency #71,598 among 17,902 “I” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#71,598
frequency rank, English
17,902
“I” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The act of irradiating; emission of rays of light.

Key facts for irradiance
PropertyValue
Headwordirradiance
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɪˈɹeɪ.di.əns/
Letters10
Frequency rank#71,598
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “irradiance” sits in English frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

irradiance is uncommon English at frequency #71,598 among 17,902 “I” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɪˈɹeɪ.di.əns/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for irradiance, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: irradiant + -ance The correct English form is irradiance, spelled I-R-R-A-D-I-A-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act of irradiating; emission of rays of light.
  2. 2
    That which irradiates or is irradiated; lustre; splendour; brilliancy.
  3. 3
    The radiant power received by unit area of surface.

Etymology

irradiant + -ance

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 "irradiance"?
"irradiance" is spelled I-R-R-A-D-I-A-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ɪˈɹeɪ.di.əns/.
What does "irradiance" mean?
As a noun, "irradiance" means: The act of irradiating; emission of rays of light.
How do you pronounce "irradiance"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "irradiance" is /ɪˈɹeɪ.di.əns/. 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 "irradiance"?
irradiant + -ance 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.

Using “irradiance”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is I-R-R-A-D-I-A-N-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ɪˈɹeɪ.di.əns/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list