photovoltaic

Name: photovoltaic, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

adj

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“photovoltaic” has 18 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #28,326. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#28,326
frequency rank, English: 4,417
“P” headwords: 18
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Producing a voltage when exposed to light.

Corpus desk

Index EN-photovoltaic · photovoltaic · English

photovoltaic · rank #28,326 · 18 variants · 0 confusables

FREQ-MID #28,326
LEN-MEGA 12 letters
VOW-5 5 vowels
CONFUS-0 No pairs
VAR-HIGH 18 variants
BOOK-MID 4,417
PHOTO-FINISH phonetic

Nearest frequency peer: phonetic (-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.

phonetic

71,676
photovoltaic

71,675
Piccadilly

71,674
pied

71,673
piloting

71,672
PKK

71,670

What this shows “photovoltaic” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Key facts for photovoltaic
Property	Value
Headword	photovoltaic
Language	English
Part of speech	Adjective
Letters	12
Frequency rank	#28,326
Misspellings tracked	18
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “photovoltaic”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).photovoltaiclands here:

#28,326

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “phonetic” (#28,325), “Piccadilly” (#28,327), “pied” (#28,328). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “photovoltaic” is #28,326. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 18 spelling variants around photovoltaic, anadjective. Corpus frequency is #28,326 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Producing a voltage when exposed to light.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 18 likely wrong-spelling variants for photovoltaic, with forms such as "hpotovoltaic", "phhotovoltaic", and "phootvoltaic". 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. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From photo- + voltaic. The correct English form is photovoltaic, spelled P-H-O-T-O-V-O-L-T-A-I-C.

Definition

1
Producing a voltage when exposed to light.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

But the truly impressive part of this entry is the photovoltaic film that has been applied to the platform and entrance roofs (all 272 square metres of it). It is a UK first for the railway, and is expected to generate 36kW of electricity to meet the needs of the station itself and to feed the surplus back to the grid.

Etymology

From photo- + voltaic.

This word in other languages

fotovoltaico(Español)photovoltaïque(Français)fotovoltaico(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

hpotovoltaic
phhotovoltaic
phootvoltaic
photoovltaic
photovlotaic
photovolatic
photovolltaic
photovoltaci
photovoltaicc
photovoltiac
photovolttaic
photovotlaic
photovvoltaic
phottovoltaic
photvooltaic
phtoovoltaic
pohtovoltaic
pphotovoltaic

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

Edit distance from "photovoltaic"

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 "photovoltaic"?

"photovoltaic" is spelled P-H-O-T-O-V-O-L-T-A-I-C.

What does "photovoltaic" mean?

As an adjective, "photovoltaic" means: Producing a voltage when exposed to light.

What are common misspellings of "photovoltaic"?

Common misspellings include "hpotovoltaic", "phhotovoltaic", "phootvoltaic", "photoovltaic", "photovlotaic". The correct spelling is "photovoltaic".

What is the origin of the word "photovoltaic"?

From photo- + voltaic. 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 "photovoltaic", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 12 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

successively#28,392 incandescent#28,251 illustrative#28,247 uninterested#28,413

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (18 here; floor ≥5).

intracellular18 variants candlelight18 variants antagonistic18 variants unregistered18 variants