ophthalmia
/ɒfˈθælmiə/
"ophthalmia" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ophthalmia” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Synonym of ophthalmitis (“inflammation of the eye”).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ophthalmia |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɒfˈθælmiə/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ophthalmia” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
ophthalmia is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɒfˈθælmiə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Synonym of ophthalmitis (“inflammation of the eye”).".
ophthalmia has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Medieval Latin obtalmia and Old French obtalmie, ultimately from Ancient Greek ὀφθαλμός (ophthalmós). Re-classicized from the Greek spelling, instead of archaic obtalmy (“eye inflammation, (also?) longsightedness”). The correct English form is ophthalmia, spelled O-P-H-T-H-A-L-M-I-A.
Definition
- 1Synonym of ophthalmitis (“inflammation of the eye”).
Etymology
From Medieval Latin obtalmia and Old French obtalmie, ultimately from Ancient Greek ὀφθαλμός (ophthalmós). Re-classicized from the Greek spelling, instead of archaic obtalmy (“eye inflammation, (also?) longsightedness”).
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “ophthalmia”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-P-H-T-H-A-L-M-I-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɒfˈθælmiə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.