metabolize
/mɪˈtæbəˌlaɪz/
"metabolize" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“metabolize” is uncommon English (frequency #55,594 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #55,594
- frequency rank, English
- 4,057
- “M” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To undergo metabolism.
Corpus desk
Index EN-metabolize · metabolize · English
metabolize · rank #55,594 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #55,594
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,057
- PHOTO-FINISH melba
Nearest frequency peer: melba (-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.
Long-tail ranks near “metabolize”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- materiality
materiality
44,412 corpus weight
- matting
matting
44,411 corpus weight
- MCAT
MCAT
44,409 corpus weight
- melba
melba
44,408 corpus weight
- metabolize
metabolize
44,407 corpus weight
- Miyuki
Miyuki
44,403 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “metabolize” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | metabolize |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /mɪˈtæbəˌlaɪz/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #55,594 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “metabolize” in English
Rare enough to double-check
metabolize is uncommon English at frequency #55,594 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /mɪˈtæbəˌlaɪz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for metabolize in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek μετᾰβολή (metăbolḗ, “change, mutation”) + -ize. The correct English form is metabolize, spelled M-E-T-A-B-O-L-I-Z-E.
Definition
- 1To undergo metabolism.
- 2To cause a substance to undergo metabolism.
- 3To produce a substance using metabolism.
- 4To absorb and process as if by metabolism.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how metabolize appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Among the many types of juice, grapefruit stands out from the pack because it changes the way some people absorb and metabolize different drugs.
The genes in question encode two enzymes that metabolize alcohol and its breakdown products; the two enzymes are known as alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek μετᾰβολή (metăbolḗ, “change, mutation”) + -ize.
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 "metabolize", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).