payment

/ˈpeɪmənt/

//ˈpeɪmənt// noun

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

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

The verdict

“payment” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,225. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,225
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The act of paying.

Corpus desk

Index EN-payment · payment · English

payment · rank #2,225 · 11 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,225
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH pack

Nearest frequency peer: pack (-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 “payment”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “payment” 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).

payment vs pigment
71% similar
payment vs payments
88% similar
payment vs parent
71% similar

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

Key facts for payment
PropertyValue
Headwordpayment
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpeɪmənt/
Letters7
Frequency rank#2,225
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “payment”

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).paymentlands 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 “pack” (#2,224), “perform” (#2,226), “milk” (#2,223). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “payment” is #2,225. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around payment (IPA /ˈpeɪmənt/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,225 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for payment, with forms such as "apyment", "pamyent", and "payemnt". 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 6 confusable-pair relationships, "pigment", "payments", "parent", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Old French paiement. Equivalent to pay + -ment. The correct English form is payment, spelled P-A-Y-M-E-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act of paying.
  2. 2
    An instance of that act; a sum of money paid in exchange for goods or services, or the transaction that conveys it.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. “[…] This is Mr. Churchill, who, as you are aware, is good enough to come to us for his diaconate, and, as we hope, for much longer; and being a gentleman of independent means, he declines to take any payment.” Saying this Walden rubbed his hands together and smiled contentedly.
  2. In a report published on October 31, Transport Focus said that a number of train companies were unable to convince it about their ability to sell a full range of tickets, handle cash payments, and avoid excessive queues at ticket machines.

Etymology

From Old French paiement. Equivalent to pay + -ment.

This word in other languages

pago(Español)paiement(Français)Bezahlung(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • apyment
  • pamyent
  • payemnt
  • paymennt
  • paymentt
  • paymetn
  • paymment
  • paymnet
  • payyment
  • ppayment
  • pyament

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of payment - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

apyment2pamyent2payemnt2paymennt1paymentt1paymetn2paymment1paymnet2
Edit distance from "payment"

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 "payment"?
"payment" is spelled P-A-Y-M-E-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpeɪmənt/.
What does "payment" mean?
As a noun, "payment" means: The act of paying.
What words are commonly confused with "payment"?
"payment" is commonly confused with "pigment", "payments", "parent". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "payment"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "payment" is /ˈpeɪmənt/. 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 "payment"?
From Old French paiement. Equivalent to pay + -ment. 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 "payment", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

perform#2,226sharing#2,230liberal#2,217streets#2,233

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

advance11 variantschapter11 variantsfinance11 variantsconcern11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list