perlite
"perlite" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“perlite” is uncommon English (frequency #74,390 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #74,390
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An amorphous volcanic glass formed by the hydration of obsidian.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | perlite |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #74,390 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “perlite” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
perlite is uncommon English at frequency #74,390 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for perlite, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French perle (“pearl”) + -ite. The correct English form is perlite, spelled P-E-R-L-I-T-E.
Definition
- 1An amorphous volcanic glass formed by the hydration of obsidian.
- 2The lightweight insulating material and aggregate resulting from expanding perlite glass by heat.
Etymology
From French perle (“pearl”) + -ite.
This word in other languages
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
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Using “perlite”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-E-R-L-I-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.