organism
/ˈɔɹ.ɡəˌnɪz.əm/noun
organism is spelled O-R-G-A-N-I-S-M. The wrong spelling people search most is organim: about 10 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 179 of all searches for the word. Organism is a noun meaning “A discrete and complete living thing, such as animal, plant, fungus or microorganism”. The plural of organism is organisms.
How many letters and syllables are in organism?
| Letters | 8: O-R-G-A-N-I-S-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.9 times per million words; the 13,127th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, organim, about 10 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell organism?
Organism is spelled O-R-G-A-N-I-S-M. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 177 of the searches for organism in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is organism?
Organism appears 3.9 times per million words in written English, the 13,127th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce organism?
- UK /ˈɔː.ɡə.nɪ.zəm/
- US /ˈɔɹ.ɡəˌnɪz.əm/
Organism has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-organism.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of organism
- organisms plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does organism mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A discrete and complete living thing, such as animal, plant, fungus or microorganism.
- 2
Something with many separate interdependent parts, seen as being like a living thing; an organic system.
- 3
obsoleterareThe fact of being organic; organicity.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Organism in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense living thing:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | organisme |
| German | Organismus, Lebewesen |
| Portuguese | organismo |
| Spanish | organismo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does organism come from?
First attested in 1701; from organ + -ism, from Ancient Greek ὄργανον (órganon, “a tool, instrument”), from Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- (“work”). Compare New Latin organismus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).