pence

/pɛns/

//pɛns// noun

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

"pence" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“pence” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #11,932. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#11,932
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - plural of penny (the subunit of the pound sterling or Irish pound).

Corpus desk

Index EN-pence · pence · English

pence · rank #11,932 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #11,932
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH peasants

Nearest frequency peer: peasants (-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 “pence”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “pence” 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).

pence vs PNC
0% similar
pence vs Pete
40% similar
pence vs pine
60% similar

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

Key facts for pence
PropertyValue
Headwordpence
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pɛns/
Letters5
Frequency rank#11,932
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “pence”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).pencelands 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 “peasants” (#11,931), “peppers” (#11,933), “paints” (#11,930). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “pence” is #11,932. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around pence (IPA /pɛns/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #11,932 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Dominant gloss: "plural of penny (the subunit of the pound sterling or Irish pound).".

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for pence, with forms such as "epnce", "pance", and "pecne". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "PNC", "Pete", "pine", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: 14th century contraction of penies (“pennies”), collective plural of penny. The correct English form is pence, spelled P-E-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    plural of penny (the subunit of the pound sterling or Irish pound).

Etymology

14th century contraction of penies (“pennies”), collective plural of penny.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • epnce
  • pance
  • pecne
  • pencce
  • penec
  • pennce
  • pnece
  • ppence

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

epnce2pance1pecne2pencce1penec2pennce1pnece2ppence1
Edit distance from "pence"

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 "pence"?
"pence" is spelled P-E-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /pɛns/.
What does "pence" mean?
As a noun, "pence" means: plural of penny (the subunit of the pound sterling or Irish pound).
What words are commonly confused with "pence"?
"pence" is commonly confused with "PNC", "Pete", "pine". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "pence"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pence" is /pɛns/. 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 "pence"?
14th century contraction of penies (“pennies”), collective plural of penny. 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 "pence", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Percy#11,934oxide#11,929Perez#11,935Nokia#11,922

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

needless8 variantsmorale8 variantsmanly8 variantsKuwait8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list