oleic

/əʊˈliː.ɪk/

//əʊˈliː.ɪk// adj

"oleic" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“oleic” is uncommon English (frequency #76,183 among 15,494 “O” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#76,183
frequency rank, English
15,494
“O” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of or pertaining to oil, especially to vegetable oil.

Corpus desk

Index EN-oleic · oleic · English

oleic · rank #76,183 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #76,183
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 15,494
  • PHOTO-FINISH Okoye

Nearest frequency peer: Okoye (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “oleic”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “oleic” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of May 6, 2026
Key facts for oleic
PropertyValue
Headwordoleic
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/əʊˈliː.ɪk/
Letters5
Frequency rank#76,183
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “oleic” 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). oleic 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

oleic is uncommon English at frequency #76,183 among 15,494 “O” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /əʊˈliː.ɪk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for oleic, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin oleum (“oil”), + -ic. The correct English form is oleic, spelled O-L-E-I-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of or pertaining to oil, especially to vegetable oil.
  2. 2
    Of or pertaining to oleic acid or its derivatives.

Etymology

From Latin oleum (“oil”), + -ic.

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "oleic"?
"oleic" is spelled O-L-E-I-C. The IPA pronunciation is /əʊˈliː.ɪk/.
What does "oleic" mean?
As an adjective, "oleic" means: Of or pertaining to oil, especially to vegetable oil.
How do you pronounce "oleic"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "oleic" is /əʊˈliː.ɪk/. 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 "oleic"?
From Latin oleum (“oil”), + -ic. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency 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