patience

/ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns/

//ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns// noun

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

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

The verdict

“patience” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,150. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,150
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The quality of being patient.

Corpus desk

Index EN-patience · patience · English

patience · rank #5,150 · 12 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,150
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH patch

Nearest frequency peer: patch (-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 “patience”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “patience” 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).

patience vs patient
75% similar

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

Key facts for patience
PropertyValue
Headwordpatience
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns/
Letters8
Frequency rank#5,150
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “patience”

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).patiencelands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “patch” (#5,149), “pic” (#5,151), “paintings” (#5,148). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “patience” is #5,150. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around patience (IPA /ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,150 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for patience, with forms such as "aptience", "paitence", and "pateince". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "patient", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English pacience, from Old French pacience (modern French patience), from Latin patientia (“suffering; endurance, patience”), from patiens, present active participle of patior (“suffer, experience, wait”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-Eu… The correct English form is patience, spelled P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The quality of being patient.
  2. 2
    Any of various card games that can be played by one person.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Musical perfection requires practice and a lot of patience.
  2. I appreciate the patience with which you've explained it.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English pacience, from Old French pacience (modern French patience), from Latin patientia (“suffering; endurance, patience”), from patiens, present active participle of patior (“suffer, experience, wait”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hurt”). Displaced Old English ġeþyld.

This word in other languages

paciencia(Español)patience(Français)Geduld(Deutsch)paciência(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • aptience
  • paitence
  • pateince
  • patiance
  • patiecne
  • patiencce
  • patienec
  • patiennce
  • patinece
  • pattience
  • ppatience
  • ptaience

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of patience - 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.

aptience2paitence2pateince2patiance1patiecne2patiencce1patienec2patiennce1
Edit distance from "patience"

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 "patience"?
"patience" is spelled P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns/.
What does "patience" mean?
As a noun, "patience" means: The quality of being patient.
What words are commonly confused with "patience"?
"patience" is commonly confused with "patient". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "patience"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "patience" is /ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns/. 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 "patience"?
Inherited from Middle English pacience, from Old French pacience (modern French patience), from Latin patientia (“suffering; endurance, patience”), from patiens, present active participle of patior (“suffer, experience, wait”), ultimately from Pro... 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 "patience", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

pointing#5,152opponent#5,147missions#5,145prisoner#5,155

Similar misspelling depth

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

pollution12 variantsmarijuana12 variantswondered12 variantsdismissed12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list