macrophage

/ˈmækɹɔʊː.feɪd͡ʒ/

//ˈmækɹɔʊː.feɪd͡ʒ// noun

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

The verdict

“macrophage” is uncommon English (frequency #56,890 among 36,575 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#56,890
frequency rank, English
36,575
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A white blood cell that phagocytizes necrotic cell debris and foreign material, including viruses, bacteria, and tattoo ink. It presents foreign antigens on MHC II to lymphocytes. Part of the innat...

Key facts for macrophage
PropertyValue
Headwordmacrophage
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmækɹɔʊː.feɪd͡ʒ/
Letters10
Frequency rank#56,890
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “macrophage” 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). macrophage 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

macrophage is uncommon English at frequency #56,890 among 36,575 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈmækɹɔʊː.feɪd͡ʒ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A white blood cell that phagocytizes necrotic cell debris and foreign material, including viruses, bacteria, and tattoo ink. It presents foreign antigens on MHC II to lymphocytes. Part of the innat...".

macrophage doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From macro- + -phage, both from Ancient Greek. The correct English form is macrophage, spelled M-A-C-R-O-P-H-A-G-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A white blood cell that phagocytizes necrotic cell debris and foreign material, including viruses, bacteria, and tattoo ink. It presents foreign antigens on MHC II to lymphocytes. Part of the innate immune system.

Etymology

From macro- + -phage, both from Ancient Greek.

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

How do you spell "macrophage"?
"macrophage" is spelled M-A-C-R-O-P-H-A-G-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmækɹɔʊː.feɪd͡ʒ/.
What does "macrophage" mean?
As a noun, "macrophage" means: A white blood cell that phagocytizes necrotic cell debris and foreign material, including viruses, bacteria, and tattoo ink. It presents foreign antigens on MHC II to lymphocytes. Part of the innat...
How do you pronounce "macrophage"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "macrophage" is /ˈmækɹɔʊː.feɪd͡ʒ/. 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 "macrophage"?
From macro- + -phage, both from Ancient Greek. 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 “macrophage”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is M-A-C-R-O-P-H-A-G-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈmækɹɔʊː.feɪd͡ʒ/ (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