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parameter

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

9 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "parameter", 9-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Wiktionary, and usage frequency ranked against an open word-frequency list covering the top 100,000 English words. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "parameter" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "parameter" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

parameter is aEnglishnoun. It means: A value kept constant during an experiment, equation, calculation, or similar, but varied over other versions of the experiment, equation, calculation, etc. Pronounced /pəˈɹæm.ɪ.tə/. Often confused with perimeter.

Key facts for parameter
PropertyValue
Headwordparameter
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pəˈɹæm.ɪ.tə/
Letters9
Frequency rank#13,580
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of parameter in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for parameter is 9 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pəˈɹæm.ɪ.tə/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,580 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 11 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for parameter, with forms such as "aprameter", "paarmeter", and "paraemter". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "perimeter", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French paramètre, from New Latin parametrum (“parameter”), from Ancient Greek παρα- (para-, “beside”) + μέτρον (métron, “measure”). Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is parameter, spelled P-A-R-A-M-E-T-E-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A value kept constant during an experiment, equation, calculation, or similar, but varied over other versions of the experiment, equation, calculation, etc.
  2. 2
    A variable that describes a property or characteristic of some system (material, object, event, etc.) or some aspect thereof.
  3. 3
    A variable that describes a property or characteristic of some system (material, object, event, etc.) or some aspect thereof.
  4. 4
    A variable that describes a property or characteristic of some system (material, object, event, etc.) or some aspect thereof.
  5. 5
    An input variable of a function definition, that gets an actual value (argument) at execution time.
  6. 6
    An actual value given to such a formal parameter.
  7. 7
    A characteristic or feature that distinguishes something from others.
  8. 8
    In the ellipse and hyperbola, a third proportional to any diameter and its conjugate, or in the parabola, to any abscissa and the corresponding ordinate.
  9. 9
    Clipping of uniformizing parameter.
  10. 10
    The ratio of the three crystallographic axes which determines the position of any plane.
  11. 11
    The fundamental axial ratio for a given species.

Etymology

From French paramètre, from New Latin parametrum (“parameter”), from Ancient Greek παρα- (para-, “beside”) + μέτρον (métron, “measure”).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: aprameter,paarmeter,paraemter,parameetr,parameterr,parametre,parametter,parammeter,paramteer,parmaeter,parrameter,pparameter,praameter

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for parameter

Misspelling Variants of "parameter"

aprameter9paarmeter9paraemter9parameetr9parameterr10parametre9parametter10parammeter10
Misspelling Variants of "parameter"

Frequency rank: #13,580 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "parameter"?
"parameter" is spelled P-A-R-A-M-E-T-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /pəˈɹæm.ɪ.tə/.
What does "parameter" mean?
As a noun, "parameter" means: A value kept constant during an experiment, equation, calculation, or similar, but varied over other versions of the experiment, equation, calculation, etc.
What words are commonly confused with "parameter"?
"parameter" is commonly confused with "perimeter". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "parameter"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "parameter" is /pəˈɹæm.ɪ.tə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "parameter"?
From French paramètre, from New Latin parametrum (“parameter”), from Ancient Greek παρα- (para-, “beside”) + μέτρον (métron, “measure”). 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter P in our English index:

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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.