percentile

/pəɹˈsɛn.taɪl/

//pəɹˈsɛn.taɪl// noun

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

"percentile" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“percentile” has 15 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #25,877. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#25,877
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
15
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of the ninety-nine points that divide an ordered distribution into one hundred parts, each containing one per cent of the population.

Corpus desk

Index EN-percentile · percentile · English

percentile · rank #25,877 · 15 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #25,877
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH peppermint

Nearest frequency peer: peppermint (-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 “percentile”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “percentile” 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).

percentile vs perceptive
80% similar
percentile vs perceptible
82% similar
percentile vs percentage
80% similar

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

Key facts for percentile
PropertyValue
Headwordpercentile
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pəɹˈsɛn.taɪl/
Letters10
Frequency rank#25,877
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “percentile”

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).percentilelands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “peppermint” (#25,876), “persuading” (#25,878), “penultimate” (#25,875). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “percentile” is #25,877. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around percentile (IPA /pəɹˈsɛn.taɪl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #25,877 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for percentile, with forms such as "eprcentile", "pecrentile", and "perccentile". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "perceptive", "perceptible", "percentage", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Coined by Francis Galton in 1885, from percent + -ile. The correct English form is percentile, spelled P-E-R-C-E-N-T-I-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of the ninety-nine points that divide an ordered distribution into one hundred parts, each containing one per cent of the population.
  2. 2
    Any one of the hundred groups so divided.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. She is highly intelligent—she has an IQ in the top percentile.
  2. Also, doctors are much more interested in the relationship between the percentiles for weight and length than they are the numbers themselves. Healthy babies tend to land in somewhat similar percentiles for both metrics and are probably getting enough nutrition. This goes for those babies who don’t chart at all. Because it is impossible for researchers to…

Etymology

Coined by Francis Galton in 1885, from percent + -ile.

Synonyms

%ilecentile

This word in other languages

percentil(Español)Perzentil(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • eprcentile
  • pecrentile
  • perccentile
  • percenitle
  • percenntile
  • percentiel
  • percentille
  • percentlie
  • percenttile
  • percetnile
  • percnetile
  • perecntile
  • perrcentile
  • ppercentile
  • precentile

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

eprcentile2pecrentile2perccentile1percenitle2percenntile1percentiel2percentille1percentlie2
Edit distance from "percentile"

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 "percentile"?
"percentile" is spelled P-E-R-C-E-N-T-I-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /pəɹˈsɛn.taɪl/.
What does "percentile" mean?
As a noun, "percentile" means: Any of the ninety-nine points that divide an ordered distribution into one hundred parts, each containing one per cent of the population.
What words are commonly confused with "percentile"?
"percentile" is commonly confused with "perceptive", "perceptible", "percentage". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "percentile"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "percentile" is /pəɹˈsɛn.taɪl/. 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 "percentile"?
Coined by Francis Galton in 1885, from percent + -ile. 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 "percentile", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

peppermint#25,876persuading#25,878overriding#25,871orthopedic#25,864

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

oftentimes15 variantsretrograde15 variantssplashing15 variantsincoherent15 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list