novice
/ˈnɒvɪs/
"novice" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“novice” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #16,982 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #16,982
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A beginner; one who is not very familiar or experienced in a particular subject.
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 | novice |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈnɒvɪs/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #16,982 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “novice” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for novice is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈnɒvɪs/. Corpus data places it at rank #16,982 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 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for novice, with forms such as "nnovice", "noivce", and "novcie". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "nice", "novi", "noise", 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 Middle English novice, novys, from Anglo-Norman novice, Middle French novice, itself borrowed from Latin novīcius, later novitius (“new, newly arrived”) (in Late Latin as a noun, masculine novicius, feminine novicia (“one who has newly entered a monast… The correct English form is novice, spelled N-O-V-I-C-E.
Definition
- 1A beginner; one who is not very familiar or experienced in a particular subject.
- 2A new member of a religious order accepted on a conditional basis, prior to confirmation.
Etymology
From Middle English novice, novys, from Anglo-Norman novice, Middle French novice, itself borrowed from Latin novīcius, later novitius (“new, newly arrived”) (in Late Latin as a noun, masculine novicius, feminine novicia (“one who has newly entered a monastery or a convent”)), from novus (“new”).
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: nnovice,noivce,novcie,novicce,noviec,novvice,nvoice,onvice
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of novice - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 “novice”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is N-O-V-I-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈnɒvɪs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “nice” - see the side-by-side comparison. novice vs nice
- 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.