patient

/ˈpeɪʃənt/

//ˈpeɪʃənt// adj

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

"patient" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“patient” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,769. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,769
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
9
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Willing to wait if necessary; not losing one's temper while waiting.

Corpus desk

Index EN-patient · patient · English

patient · rank #1,769 · 10 variants · 9 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,769
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 9 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH onto

Nearest frequency peer: onto (-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 “patient”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “patient” 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).

patient vs potent
71% similar
patient vs patten
71% similar
patient vs patina
71% similar

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

Key facts for patient
PropertyValue
Headwordpatient
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈpeɪʃənt/
Letters7
Frequency rank#1,769
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs9
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “patient”

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).patientlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “onto” (#1,768), “possibly” (#1,770), “neither” (#1,767). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “patient” is #1,769. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around patient (IPA /ˈpeɪʃənt/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #1,769 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for patient, with forms such as "aptient", "paitent", and "pateint". 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 9 confusable-pair relationships, "potent", "patten", "patina", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English pacient, from Middle French patient, from Old French pacient, from Latin patiens, present participle of patior (“to suffer, endure”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hate, hurt”). The correct English form is patient, spelled P-A-T-I-E-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Willing to wait if necessary; not losing one's temper while waiting.
  2. 2
    Constant in pursuit or exertion; persevering; calmly diligent.
  3. 3
    Physically able to suffer or bear.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Be patient: your friends will arrive in a few hours.
  2. Asari Cultural VI: Due to our lifespan-sometimes reaching 1,000 years of age-we are patient in our decisions, and prefer long-term solutions over short-term gains.

Etymology

From Middle English pacient, from Middle French patient, from Old French pacient, from Latin patiens, present participle of patior (“to suffer, endure”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hate, hurt”).

Synonyms

composed

Antonyms

impatientantsymacrophobic

This word in other languages

paciente(Español)patient(Français)geduldig(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • aptient
  • paitent
  • pateint
  • patiennt
  • patientt
  • patietn
  • patinet
  • pattient
  • ppatient
  • ptaient

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

aptient2paitent2pateint2patiennt1patientt1patietn2patinet2pattient1
Edit distance from "patient"

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 "patient"?
"patient" is spelled P-A-T-I-E-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpeɪʃənt/.
What does "patient" mean?
As an adjective, "patient" means: Willing to wait if necessary; not losing one's temper while waiting.
What words are commonly confused with "patient"?
"patient" is commonly confused with "potent", "patten", "patina". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "patient"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "patient" is /ˈpeɪʃənt/. 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 "patient"?
From Middle English pacient, from Middle French patient, from Old French pacient, from Latin patiens, present participle of patior (“to suffer, endure”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hate, hurt”). 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 "patient", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

neither#1,767setting#1,773journal#1,762housing#1,759

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

length10 variantsFlorida10 variantsthinks10 variantsmanaged10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list