phosphatase

noun

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

"phosphatase" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“phosphatase” has 17 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #47,255. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#47,255
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
17
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of several enzymes that hydrolyze phosphate esters, and are important in the metabolism of carbohydrates, nucleotides and phospholipids, and in the formation of bone.

Corpus desk

Index EN-phosphatase · phosphatase · English

phosphatase · rank #47,255 · 17 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #47,255
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 17 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH perdue

Nearest frequency peer: perdue (-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 “phosphatase”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “phosphatase” 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).

phosphatase vs phosphate
82% similar

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

Key facts for phosphatase
PropertyValue
Headwordphosphatase
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters11
Frequency rank#47,255
Misspellings tracked17
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “phosphatase”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).phosphataselands 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 “perdue” (#47,254), “percussive” (#47,253), “piezoelectric” (#47,257). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “phosphatase” is #47,255. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 17 spelling variants around phosphatase, anoun. Corpus frequency is #47,255 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Any of several enzymes that hydrolyze phosphate esters, and are important in the metabolism of carbohydrates, nucleotides and phospholipids, and in the formation of bone.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for phosphatase, with forms such as "hposphatase", "phhosphatase", and "phopshatase". 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. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "phosphate", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From phosphate + -ase. The correct English form is phosphatase, spelled P-H-O-S-P-H-A-T-A-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of several enzymes that hydrolyze phosphate esters, and are important in the metabolism of carbohydrates, nucleotides and phospholipids, and in the formation of bone.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. These results are in accordance with the observations of Pirani et al., who found that in normal pregnancy there was no correlation between serum heat-stable alkaline phosphatase activity and crude baby weight or placental weight.

Etymology

From phosphate + -ase.

This word in other languages

phosphatase(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hposphatase
  • phhosphatase
  • phopshatase
  • phoshpatase
  • phospahtase
  • phosphaatse
  • phosphataes
  • phosphatasse
  • phosphatsae
  • phosphattase
  • phosphhatase
  • phosphtaase
  • phospphatase
  • phossphatase
  • phsophatase
  • pohsphatase
  • pphosphatase

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

hposphatase2phhosphatase1phopshatase2phoshpatase2phospahtase2phosphaatse2phosphataes2phosphatasse1
Edit distance from "phosphatase"

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 "phosphatase"?
"phosphatase" is spelled P-H-O-S-P-H-A-T-A-S-E.
What does "phosphatase" mean?
As a noun, "phosphatase" means: Any of several enzymes that hydrolyze phosphate esters, and are important in the metabolism of carbohydrates, nucleotides and phospholipids, and in the formation of bone.
What words are commonly confused with "phosphatase"?
"phosphatase" is commonly confused with "phosphate". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What is the origin of the word "phosphatase"?
From phosphate + -ase. 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 "phosphatase", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

polypeptide#47,268rationalism#47,287Rittenhouse#47,309mechanistic#47,187

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (17 here; floor ≥5).

multichannel17 variantsmalfeasance17 variantsunionization17 variantsinadequately17 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list