microscope

Name: microscope, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˈmaɪ.kɹəˌskəʊp/

//ˈmaɪ.kɹəˌskəʊp// noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“microscope” has 15 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #14,999. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#14,999
frequency rank, English: 4,057
“M” headwords: 15
tracked misspellings: 2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An optical instrument used for observing small objects.

Corpus desk

Index EN-microscope · microscope · English

microscope · rank #14,999 · 15 variants · 2 confusables

FREQ-MID #14,999
LEN-MEGA 10 letters
VOW-4 4 vowels
CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
VAR-HIGH 15 variants
BOOK-MID 4,057
PHOTO-FINISH mesa

Nearest frequency peer: mesa (-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.

mating

85,005
McKay

85,004
mesa

85,003
microscope

85,002
milky

85,001
Mixer

85,000

What this shows “microscope” 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).

microscope vs microscopy

90% similar

microscope vs microscopic

82% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for microscope
Property	Value
Headword	microscope
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/ˈmaɪ.kɹəˌskəʊp/
Letters	10
Frequency rank	#14,999
Misspellings tracked	15
Confusable pairs	2
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “microscope”

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

#14,999

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “mesa” (#14,998), “milky” (#15,000), “McKay” (#14,997). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “microscope” is #14,999. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around microscope (IPA /ˈmaɪ.kɹəˌskəʊp/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #14,999 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for microscope, with forms such as "imcroscope", "mciroscope", and "miccroscope". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "microscopy", "microscopic", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *mey-der.? Ancient Greek μῑκρός (mīkrós) Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti Proto-Hellenic *sképťomai Ancient Greek σκέπτομαι (sképtomai) Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Hell… The correct English form is microscope, spelled M-I-C-R-O-S-C-O-P-E.

Definition

1
An optical instrument used for observing small objects.
2
Any instrument for imaging very small objects (such as an electron microscope).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how microscope appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

That he might ascertain whether any of the cloths of ancient Egypt were made of hemp, M. Dutrochet has examined with the microscope the weavable filaments of this last vegetable.
Elsewhere, professionals could enthuse over new precision instruments capable, for instance, of measuring weights down to a tenth of a milligram, or over a host of self-registering thermometers and barometers, microscopes, typewriters, calculators and all sorts of technical and musical devices, including automatic concertinas, edeophones, auto-harps, bigo…

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *mey-der.? Ancient Greek μῑκρός (mīkrós) Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti Proto-Hellenic *sképťomai Ancient Greek σκέπτομαι (sképtomai) Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Hellenic *-ós ▲ Ancient Greek -ος (-os)influ. Ancient Greek -ός (-ós) Ancient Greek σκοπός (skopós) Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *-eyéti Proto-Indo-European *-esyéti Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Ancient Greek -έω (-éō) Ancient Greek σκοπέω (skopéō) Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ium Latin mīcroscopiumlbor. Italian microscopiobor. English microscope From New Latin microscopium and Italian microscopio, from Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”) + σκοπέω (skopéō, “I look at”), equivalent to micro- + -scope.

This word in other languages

microscopio(Español)microscope(Français)Mikroskop(Deutsch)microscópio(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

imcroscope
mciroscope
miccroscope
micorscope
microcsope
microsccope
microscoep
microscoppe
microscpoe
microsocpe
microsscope
micrroscope
micrsocope
mircoscope
mmicroscope

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of microscope - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

Edit distance from "microscope"

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 "microscope"?

"microscope" is spelled M-I-C-R-O-S-C-O-P-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmaɪ.kɹəˌskəʊp/.

What does "microscope" mean?

As a noun, "microscope" means: An optical instrument used for observing small objects.

What words are commonly confused with "microscope"?

"microscope" is commonly confused with "microscopy", "microscopic". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "microscope"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "microscope" is /ˈmaɪ.kɹəˌskəʊp/. 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 "microscope"?

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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "microscope", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

monumental#15,004 locomotive#14,988 liberalism#14,984 JavaScript#14,975

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

knowingly15 variants pilgrimage15 variants preventive15 variants homophobic15 variants