pagan
/ˈpeɪɡən/
"pagan" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pagan” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #13,780 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #13,780
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Relating to, characteristic of religions that differ from main world religions.
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 | pagan |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈpeɪɡən/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #13,780 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “pagan” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for pagan is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpeɪɡən/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,780 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for pagan, with forms such as "apgan", "paagn", and "pagann". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Pan", "PGA", "plan", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English pagan (adjective and noun), from Latin pāgānus (“rural, rustic; civilian”), replaced Middle English payen from the same root. The meaning “not Christian” arose in Vulgar Latin, probably from the 4th century, owing to the Roman countrysid… The correct English form is pagan, spelled P-A-G-A-N.
Definition
- 1Relating to, characteristic of religions that differ from main world religions.
- 2Savage, immoral, uncivilized, wild.
Etymology
From Middle English pagan (adjective and noun), from Latin pāgānus (“rural, rustic; civilian”), replaced Middle English payen from the same root. The meaning “not Christian” arose in Vulgar Latin, probably from the 4th century, owing to the Roman countryside being largely non-Christian, or potentially from the “civilian” meaning—denoting those not in the “army of Christ”. As a self-designation of neopagans, attested since 1990. Partly displaced native heathen, from Old English hǣþen.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: apgan,paagn,pagann,paggan,pagna,pgaan,ppagan
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of pagan - 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 “pagan”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-A-G-A-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpeɪɡən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Pan” - see the side-by-side comparison. pagan vs Pan
- 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.