phoenix
/ˈfiːnɪks/
"phoenix" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“phoenix” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #5,072 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #5,072
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A mythological bird, said to be the only one of its kind, which lives for 500 years and then dies by burning to ashes on a pyre of its own making, ignited by the sun. It then arises anew from the a...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | phoenix |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfiːnɪks/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #5,072 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “phoenix” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for phoenix is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfiːnɪks/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,072 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for phoenix, with forms such as "hpoenix", "pheonix", and "phhoenix". 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. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Old English and Old French fenix, from Medieval Latin phenix, from Latin phoenīx, from Ancient Greek φοῖνιξ (phoînix), from Egyptian b-n:nw*w-G31 (boinu, “grey heron”). Doublet of Bennu. The grey heron was venerated at Heliopolis and associated in Egyp… The correct English form is phoenix, spelled P-H-O-E-N-I-X.
Definition
- 1A mythological bird, said to be the only one of its kind, which lives for 500 years and then dies by burning to ashes on a pyre of its own making, ignited by the sun. It then arises anew from the ashes.
- 2Anything that is reborn after apparently being destroyed.
- 3A mythological Chinese chimerical bird whose physical body symbolizes the six celestial bodies; a fenghuang.
- 4A Greek silver coin used briefly from 1828 to 1832, divided into 100 lepta.
- 5A marvelous person or thing.
- 6Alternative letter-case form of Phoenix (“A geometer moth of species Eulithis prunata.”).
Etymology
From Old English and Old French fenix, from Medieval Latin phenix, from Latin phoenīx, from Ancient Greek φοῖνιξ (phoînix), from Egyptian b-n:nw*w-G31 (boinu, “grey heron”). Doublet of Bennu. The grey heron was venerated at Heliopolis and associated in Egypt with the cyclical renewal of life because the bird rises in flight at dawn and migrates back every year in the flood season to inhabit the Nile waters.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hpoenix,pheonix,phhoenix,phoeinx,phoenixx,phoennix,phoenxi,phoneix,pohenix,pphoenix
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of phoenix - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "phoenix"?
What does "phoenix" mean?
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Using “phoenix”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-H-O-E-N-I-X - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈfiːnɪks/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.