nuclease

noun

"nuclease" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“nuclease” is uncommon English (frequency #95,199 among 24,391 “N” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#95,199
frequency rank, English
24,391
“N” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of several enzymes capable of cleaving the phosphodiester bonds between the nucleotide subunits of nucleic acids.

Key facts for nuclease
PropertyValue
Headwordnuclease
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Frequency rank#95,199
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “nuclease” sits in English frequency

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

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

nuclease is uncommon English at frequency #95,199 among 24,391 “N” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Any of several enzymes capable of cleaving the phosphodiester bonds between the nucleotide subunits of nucleic acids.".

Zero misspellings are on record for nuclease in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From nucleo- + -ase. The correct English form is nuclease, spelled N-U-C-L-E-A-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of several enzymes capable of cleaving the phosphodiester bonds between the nucleotide subunits of nucleic acids.

Etymology

From nucleo- + -ase.

This word in other languages

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 "nuclease"?
"nuclease" is spelled N-U-C-L-E-A-S-E.
What does "nuclease" mean?
As a noun, "nuclease" means: Any of several enzymes capable of cleaving the phosphodiester bonds between the nucleotide subunits of nucleic acids.
What is the origin of the word "nuclease"?
From nucleo- + -ase. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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.

Using “nuclease”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is N-U-C-L-E-A-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list