phoneme

/ˈfəʊ.niːm/

//ˈfəʊ.niːm// noun

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

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

The verdict

“phoneme” is uncommon English (frequency #56,976 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#56,976
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An indivisible unit of sound in a given language. A phoneme is an abstraction of the physical speech sounds (phones) and may encompass several different phones.

Corpus desk

Index EN-phoneme · phoneme · English

phoneme · rank #56,976 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #56,976
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH philosophic

Nearest frequency peer: philosophic (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “phoneme”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “phoneme” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for phoneme
PropertyValue
Headwordphoneme
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈfəʊ.niːm/
Letters7
Frequency rank#56,976
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “phoneme” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).phonemefalls in this rarity band:

#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. Rare peers in the same band: “philosophic” (#56,975), “phonemic” (#56,977), “Philbin” (#56,974). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “phoneme” is #56,976. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

phoneme is uncommon English at frequency #56,976 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈfəʊ.niːm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An indivisible unit of sound in a given language. A phoneme is an abstraction of the physical speech sounds (phones) and may encompass several different phones.".

No misspelling variants are generated for phoneme in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek φώνημα (phṓnēma, “sound”), from φωνέω (phōnéō, “to sound”), from φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound”). By surface analysis, phone (“speech sound”) + -eme (“unit”). The correct English form is phoneme, spelled P-H-O-N-E-M-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    An indivisible unit of sound in a given language. A phoneme is an abstraction of the physical speech sounds (phones) and may encompass several different phones.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. It is crucial for the phoneme structure of Finnish — traditionally /d/ has not been included in the Finnish phonotax, but it fulfils the criteria of a phoneme (Karlsson, 1983: 66-7).

Etymology

From Ancient Greek φώνημα (phṓnēma, “sound”), from φωνέω (phōnéō, “to sound”), from φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound”). By surface analysis, phone (“speech sound”) + -eme (“unit”).

This word in other languages

fonema(Español)phonème(Français)Phonem(Deutsch)

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 "phoneme"?
"phoneme" is spelled P-H-O-N-E-M-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfəʊ.niːm/.
What does "phoneme" mean?
As a noun, "phoneme" means: An indivisible unit of sound in a given language. A phoneme is an abstraction of the physical speech sounds (phones) and may encompass several different phones.
How do you pronounce "phoneme"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "phoneme" is /ˈfəʊ.niːm/. 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 "phoneme"?
From Ancient Greek φώνημα (phṓnēma, “sound”), from φωνέω (phōnéō, “to sound”), from φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound”). By surface analysis, phone (“speech sound”) + -eme (“unit”). 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 "phoneme", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Philbin#56,974preempt#56,988paddies#56,960O'Dwyer#56,942

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list