osteomyelitis

noun

"osteomyelitis" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“osteomyelitis” is uncommon English (frequency #81,657 among 15,494 “O” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#81,657
frequency rank, English
15,494
“O” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An infection of the bone

Key facts for osteomyelitis
PropertyValue
Headwordosteomyelitis
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters13
Frequency rank#81,657
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “osteomyelitis” 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). osteomyelitis 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

osteomyelitis is uncommon English at frequency #81,657 among 15,494 “O” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An infection of the bone".

No generated misspelling entries exist for osteomyelitis in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From osteo- + myelitis. The correct English form is osteomyelitis, spelled O-S-T-E-O-M-Y-E-L-I-T-I-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    An infection of the bone

Etymology

From osteo- + myelitis.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "osteomyelitis"?
"osteomyelitis" is spelled O-S-T-E-O-M-Y-E-L-I-T-I-S.
What does "osteomyelitis" mean?
As a noun, "osteomyelitis" means: An infection of the bone
What is the origin of the word "osteomyelitis"?
From osteo- + myelitis. 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.

Using “osteomyelitis”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is O-S-T-E-O-M-Y-E-L-I-T-I-S - 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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list