microscope
/ˈmaɪ.kɹəˌskəʊp/
"microscope" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“microscope” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #14,999 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #14,999
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 15
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An optical instrument used for observing small objects.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| 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) |
Where “microscope” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for microscope is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmaɪ.kɹəˌskəʊp/. Corpus data places it at rank #14,999 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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
- 1An optical instrument used for observing small objects.
- 2Any instrument for imaging very small objects (such as an electron microscope).
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
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.
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"?
What does "microscope" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "microscope"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “microscope”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-I-C-R-O-S-C-O-P-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmaɪ.kɹəˌskəʊp/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “microscopy” - see the side-by-side comparison. microscope vs microscopy
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.