phosphate
/ˈfɒsfeɪt/
"phosphate" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“phosphate” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #16,770 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #16,770
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 14
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any salt or ester of phosphoric acid.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | phosphate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfɒsfeɪt/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #16,770 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “phosphate” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for phosphate is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfɒsfeɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #16,770 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for phosphate, with forms such as "hposphate", "phhosphate", and "phopshate". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "phosphatase", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French phosphate. By surface analysis, phosphoric acid + -ate (“salt or ester”). The correct English form is phosphate, spelled P-H-O-S-P-H-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1Any salt or ester of phosphoric acid.
- 2Any fertiliser containing phosphate compounds.
- 3Guano (containing high levels of phosphates and harvested for the fertiliser industry).
- 4A carbonated soft drink containing phosphoric acid, often flavored with a fruit-based syrup.
Etymology
From French phosphate. By surface analysis, phosphoric acid + -ate (“salt or ester”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hposphate,phhosphate,phopshate,phoshpate,phospahte,phosphaet,phosphatte,phosphhate,phosphtae,phospphate,phossphate,phsophate,pohsphate,pphosphate
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of phosphate - 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.
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 “phosphate”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-H-O-S-P-H-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈfɒsfeɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “phosphatase” - see the side-by-side comparison. phosphate vs phosphatase
- 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.