nexus
/ˈnɛksəs/
"nexus" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“nexus” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #12,111 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #12,111
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 11
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A form or state of connection.
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 | nexus |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈnɛksəs/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #12,111 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “nexus” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for nexus is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈnɛksəs/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,111 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for nexus, with forms such as "enxus", "neuxs", and "nexsu". 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 11 confusable-pair relationships, "nous", "NES", "NEX", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin nexus (“connection, nexus; act of binding, tying or fastening together; something which binds, binding, bond, fastening, joint; legal obligation”), from nectō (“to attach, bind, connect, fasten, tie; to interweave; to relate; to unite; to bind by… The correct English form is nexus, spelled N-E-X-U-S.
Definition
- 1A form or state of connection.
- 2A form or state of connection.
- 3A connected group; a network, a web.
- 4A centre or focus of something.
- 5In the work of the Danish linguist Otto Jespersen (1860–1943): a group of words expressing two concepts in one unit (such as a clause or sentence).
- 6A person who had contracted a nexum or obligation of such a kind that, if they failed to pay, their creditor could compel them to work as a servant until the debt was paid; an indentured servant.
Etymology
From Latin nexus (“connection, nexus; act of binding, tying or fastening together; something which binds, binding, bond, fastening, joint; legal obligation”), from nectō (“to attach, bind, connect, fasten, tie; to interweave; to relate; to unite; to bind by obligation, make liable, oblige; to compose, contrive, devise, produce”) + -tus (suffix forming verbal nouns).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: enxus,neuxs,nexsu,nexuss,nexxus,nnexus,nxeus
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of nexus - 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
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Using “nexus”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is N-E-X-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈnɛksəs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “nous” - see the side-by-side comparison. nexus vs nous
- 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.