oxygen
/ˈɒksɪd͡ʒən/
"oxygen" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“oxygen” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #4,695. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #4,695
- frequency rank, English
- 15,494
- “O” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The chemical element (symbol O) with an atomic number of 8 and relative atomic mass of 15.9994. It is a colorless and odorless gas. Sometimes called elemental oxygen to distinguish it from molecula...
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 | oxygen |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɒksɪd͡ʒən/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #4,695 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “oxygen” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around oxygen (IPA /ˈɒksɪd͡ʒən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #4,695 among 15,494 “O” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for oxygen, with forms such as "oxgyen", "oxxygen", and "oxyegn". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "oxen", "Origen", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ-der.? Ancient Greek ὀξύς (oxús) Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os Proto-Hellenic *génos Ancient Greek γένος (génos) French oxygènebor. English oxygen Borrowed from Fren… The correct English form is oxygen, spelled O-X-Y-G-E-N.
Definition
- 1The chemical element (symbol O) with an atomic number of 8 and relative atomic mass of 15.9994. It is a colorless and odorless gas. Sometimes called elemental oxygen to distinguish it from molecular oxygen.
- 2Molecular oxygen (O₂), a colorless, odorless gas at room temperature.
- 3A mixture of oxygen and other gases, administered to a patient to help them breathe.
- 4An atom of this element.
- 5A condition or environment in which something can thrive.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ-der.? Ancient Greek ὀξύς (oxús) Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os Proto-Hellenic *génos Ancient Greek γένος (génos) French oxygènebor. English oxygen Borrowed from French oxygène (originally in the form principe oxygène, a variant of principe oxigine ‘acidifying principle’, suggested by Lavoisier), from Ancient Greek ὀξύς (oxús, “sharp”) + γένος (génos, “birth”), referring to oxygen's supposed role in the formation of acids. By surface analysis, oxy- + -gen.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: oxgyen,oxxygen,oxyegn,oxygenn,oxyggen,oxygne,oxyygen,oyxgen,xoygen
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of oxygen - 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 “oxygen”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-X-Y-G-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɒksɪd͡ʒən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “oxen” - see the side-by-side comparison. oxygen vs oxen
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Same frequency band
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.