operon
"operon" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“operon” is uncommon English (frequency #84,584 among 15,494 “O” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #84,584
- frequency rank, English
- 15,494
- “O” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A unit of genetic material that functions in a coordinated manner by means of an operator, a promoter, and structural genes that are transcribed together.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | operon |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #84,584 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “operon” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
operon is uncommon English at frequency #84,584 among 15,494 “O” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A unit of genetic material that functions in a coordinated manner by means of an operator, a promoter, and structural genes that are transcribed together.".
operon has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From operator + -on. The correct English form is operon, spelled O-P-E-R-O-N.
Definition
- 1A unit of genetic material that functions in a coordinated manner by means of an operator, a promoter, and structural genes that are transcribed together.
Etymology
From operator + -on.
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 “operon”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-P-E-R-O-N - 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.