ordinary
/ˈɔːdɪnəɹi/
"ordinary" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ordinary” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #3,517 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #3,517
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person with authority; authority, ordinance.
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 | ordinary |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɔːdɪnəɹi/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #3,517 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ordinary” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for ordinary is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɔːdɪnəɹi/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,517 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 15 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for ordinary, with forms such as "odrinary", "orddinary", and "ordianry". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "ordinate", "ordinal", "ordinarily", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Anglo-Norman ordenarie, ordenaire et al., Middle French ordinaire, and their source, Medieval Latin ordinarius, noun use of Latin ōrdinārius (“regular, orderly”), from ōrdō (“order”). The correct English form is ordinary, spelled O-R-D-I-N-A-R-Y.
Definition
- 1A person with authority; authority, ordinance.
- 2A person with authority; authority, ordinance.
- 3A person with authority; authority, ordinance.
- 4A person with authority; authority, ordinance.
- 5Something ordinary or regular.
- 6Something ordinary or regular.
- 7Something ordinary or regular.
- 8Something ordinary or regular.
- 9Something ordinary or regular.
- 10Something ordinary or regular.
- 11Something ordinary or regular.
- 12Something ordinary or regular.
- 13Something ordinary or regular.
- 14A book setting out ordinary or regular conduct.
- 15A book setting out ordinary or regular conduct.
Etymology
From Anglo-Norman ordenarie, ordenaire et al., Middle French ordinaire, and their source, Medieval Latin ordinarius, noun use of Latin ōrdinārius (“regular, orderly”), from ōrdō (“order”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: odrinary,orddinary,ordianry,ordinarry,ordinaryy,ordinayr,ordinnary,ordinray,ordniary,oridnary,orrdinary,rodinary
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ordinary - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “ordinary”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-R-D-I-N-A-R-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɔːdɪnəɹi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “ordinate” - see the side-by-side comparison. ordinary vs ordinate
- 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.