luciferase
"luciferase" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“luciferase” is uncommon English (frequency #93,938 among 2,297 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #93,938
- frequency rank, English
- 2,297
- “L” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any one of a group of enzymes that produce bioluminescence by oxidizing luciferin.
Corpus desk
Index EN-luciferase · luciferase · English
luciferase · rank #93,938 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #93,938
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,297
- PHOTO-FINISH Lucey
Nearest frequency peer: Lucey (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “luciferase”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Louisburg
Louisburg
6,067 corpus weight
- loveth
loveth
6,066 corpus weight
- LPT
LPT
6,065 corpus weight
- Lucey
Lucey
6,064 corpus weight
- luciferase
luciferase
6,063 corpus weight
- lutes
lutes
6,059 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “luciferase” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | luciferase |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #93,938 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “luciferase” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
luciferase is uncommon English at frequency #93,938 among 2,297 “L” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Any one of a group of enzymes that produce bioluminescence by oxidizing luciferin.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for luciferase in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From luciferin + -ase. The correct English form is luciferase, spelled L-U-C-I-F-E-R-A-S-E.
Definition
- 1Any one of a group of enzymes that produce bioluminescence by oxidizing luciferin.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how luciferase appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Aptly enough, glowworms light up their underworld with a pair of chemicals that have a satanic etymology—luciferins and luciferases, after the Latin for “light bringer.”
The novel coronavirus vaccine manufactured by Moderna does not contain luciferin, an organic compound involved in bioluminescence, or the enzyme luciferase, contrary to claims on social media.
Etymology
From luciferin + -ase.
This word in other languages
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 "luciferase", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
What to do next
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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.