patrician
/pəˈtɹɪʃən/
"patrician" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“patrician” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #44,991 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #44,991
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A member of any of the families constituting the populus Romanus, or body of Roman citizens, before the development of the plebeian order; later, one who, by right of birth or by special privilege ...
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | patrician |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /pəˈtɹɪʃən/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #44,991 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “patrician” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for patrician is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pəˈtɹɪʃən/. Corpus data places it at rank #44,991 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 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 patrician, with forms such as "aptrician", "partician", and "patircian". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "Patricia", "Parisian", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French patricien, from Latin patricius, derived from patrēs cōnscrīptī (“Roman senators”). The correct English form is patrician, spelled P-A-T-R-I-C-I-A-N.
Definition
- 1A member of any of the families constituting the populus Romanus, or body of Roman citizens, before the development of the plebeian order; later, one who, by right of birth or by special privilege conferred, belonged to the senior class of Romans, who, with certain property, had by right a seat in the Roman Senate.
- 2A person of high birth; a nobleman.
- 3One familiar with the works of the Christian Fathers; one versed in patristic lore or life.
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French patricien, from Latin patricius, derived from patrēs cōnscrīptī (“Roman senators”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aptrician,partician,patircian,patrciian,patricain,patriccian,patriciann,patricina,patriican,patrrician,pattrician,ppatrician,ptarician
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of patrician - 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.
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 "patrician"?
What does "patrician" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "patrician"?
How do you pronounce "patrician"?
What is the origin of the word "patrician"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “patrician”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-A-T-R-I-C-I-A-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /pəˈtɹɪʃən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Patricia” - see the side-by-side comparison. patrician vs Patricia
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.