pasteurize
/ˈpæst͡ʃəɹaɪz/
"pasteurize" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pasteurize” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To heat food for the purpose of killing harmful organisms such as bacteria, viruses, protozoa, molds, and yeasts.
Corpus desk
Index EN-pasteurize · pasteurize · English
pasteurize · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pasteurize |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈpæst͡ʃəɹaɪz/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “pasteurize” in English
Rare enough to double-check
pasteurize is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈpæst͡ʃəɹaɪz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To heat food for the purpose of killing harmful organisms such as bacteria, viruses, protozoa, molds, and yeasts.".
No misspelling variants are generated for pasteurize in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French pasteuriser. From Louis Pasteur, the inventor of the process, + -ize. The correct English form is pasteurize, spelled P-A-S-T-E-U-R-I-Z-E.
Definition
- 1To heat food for the purpose of killing harmful organisms such as bacteria, viruses, protozoa, molds, and yeasts.
Etymology
Borrowed from French pasteuriser. From Louis Pasteur, the inventor of the process, + -ize.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.