ounce
/aʊns/
"ounce" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ounce” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #9,642 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #9,642
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An avoirdupois ounce, weighing ¹⁄₁₆ of an avoirdupois pound, or 28.349523125 grams.
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 | ounce |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /aʊns/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #9,642 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ounce” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for ounce is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /aʊns/. Corpus data places it at rank #9,642 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for ounce, with forms such as "onuce", "oucne", and "ouncce". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "ounces", "oz", "one", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English ounce, unce, from Middle French once, from Latin uncia (“Roman ounce, various similar units”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *óynos (“one”). Doublet of a, one, inch, uncia, onça, onza, oka, ouguiya, and awqiyyah. The correct English form is ounce, spelled O-U-N-C-E.
Definition
- 1An avoirdupois ounce, weighing ¹⁄₁₆ of an avoirdupois pound, or 28.349523125 grams.
- 2A troy ounce, weighing ¹⁄₁₂ of a troy pound, or 480 grains, or 31.1034768 grams.
- 3A US fluid ounce, with a volume of ¹⁄₁₆ of a US pint, 1.804688 cubic inches or 29.5735295625 millilitres.
- 4A British imperial fluid ounce, with a volume of ¹⁄₂₀ of an imperial pint, 1.733871 cubic inches or 28.4130625 millilitres.
- 5Any small amount, a little bit.
Etymology
From Middle English ounce, unce, from Middle French once, from Latin uncia (“Roman ounce, various similar units”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *óynos (“one”). Doublet of a, one, inch, uncia, onça, onza, oka, ouguiya, and awqiyyah.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: onuce,oucne,ouncce,ounec,ounnce,uonce
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ounce - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 “ounce”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-U-N-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /aʊns/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “ounces” - see the side-by-side comparison. ounce vs ounces
- 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.