partisan

/ˈpɑː.tɪˌzæn/

//ˈpɑː.tɪˌzæn// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"partisan" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“partisan” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #9,507. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,507
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An adherent to a party or faction.

Corpus desk

Index EN-partisan · partisan · English

partisan · rank #9,507 · 12 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,507
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH obesity

Nearest frequency peer: obesity (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “partisan”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “partisan” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

partisan vs Pattison
63% similar
partisan vs partial
75% similar
partisan vs Parisian
63% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for partisan
PropertyValue
Headwordpartisan
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpɑː.tɪˌzæn/
Letters8
Frequency rank#9,507
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “partisan”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).partisanlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “obesity” (#9,506), “planting” (#9,508), “NSW” (#9,505). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “partisan” is #9,507. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around partisan (IPA /ˈpɑː.tɪˌzæn/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #9,507 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for partisan, with forms such as "aprtisan", "paritsan", and "parrtisan". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "Pattison", "partial", "Parisian", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French partisan, from Italian partigiano (“defender of a party”), from parte (“part”). Doublet of partigiano. Attested in English from the late 15th century in the noun sense of "party adherent", and in related adjective senses from the 16th century. T… The correct English form is partisan, spelled P-A-R-T-I-S-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    An adherent to a party or faction.
  2. 2
    A fervent, sometimes militant, supporter or proponent of a party, cause, faction, person, or idea.
  3. 3
    A member of a band of detached light, irregular troops acting behind occupying enemy lines in the ways of harassment or sabotage; a guerrilla fighter.
  4. 4
    The commander of a body of detached light troops engaged in making forays and harassing an enemy.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how partisan appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. "Strong partisans of neither party, Indiana farmers failed to act as a block […]"

Etymology

From French partisan, from Italian partigiano (“defender of a party”), from parte (“part”). Doublet of partigiano. Attested in English from the late 15th century in the noun sense of "party adherent", and in related adjective senses from the 16th century. The "guerrilla fighter" sense influenced by Serbo-Croatian partizan, Russian партиза́н (partizán), from the same source. The sense of "guerrilla fighter" is from c. 1690. The adjective in the military sense dates from the early 18th century.

This word in other languages

partidario(Español)militant(Français)Partisan(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • aprtisan
  • paritsan
  • parrtisan
  • partiasn
  • partisann
  • partisna
  • partissan
  • partsian
  • parttisan
  • patrisan
  • ppartisan
  • pratisan

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of partisan - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

aprtisan2paritsan2parrtisan1partiasn2partisann1partisna2partissan1partsian2
Edit distance from "partisan"

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 "partisan"?
"partisan" is spelled P-A-R-T-I-S-A-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɑː.tɪˌzæn/.
What does "partisan" mean?
As a noun, "partisan" means: An adherent to a party or faction.
What words are commonly confused with "partisan"?
"partisan" is commonly confused with "Pattison", "partial", "Parisian". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "partisan"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "partisan" is /ˈpɑː.tɪˌzæn/. 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 "partisan"?
From French partisan, from Italian partigiano (“defender of a party”), from parte (“part”). Doublet of partigiano. Attested in English from the late 15th century in the noun sense of "party adherent", and in related adjective senses from the 16th ... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "partisan", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

planting#9,508narrator#9,502reliance#9,520rewarded#9,526

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

inquiries12 variantstaxation12 variantsadmitting12 variantsassurance12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list