piece
/piːs/
"piece" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“piece” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #975 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #975
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A part of a larger whole, usually in such a form that it is able to be separated from other parts.
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 | piece |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /piːs/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #975 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “piece” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for piece is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /piːs/. Corpus data places it at rank #975 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 21 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for piece, with forms such as "ipece", "peice", and "picee". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pipe", "pile", "pine", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English pece, peece, peice, from Old French piece, from Late Latin petia, pettia, possibly from Gaulish *pettyā, from Proto-Celtic *kʷezdis (“piece, portion, quota”). Compare Welsh peth, Breton pez (“thing”), Irish cuid. Compare French pièce, Po… The correct English form is piece, spelled P-I-E-C-E.
Definition
- 1A part of a larger whole, usually in such a form that it is able to be separated from other parts.
- 2A single item belonging to a class of similar items.
- 3One of the figures used in playing chess, specifically a higher-value figure as distinguished from a pawn; (by extension) those with which draughts, backgammon, and other similar board games are played.
- 4A coin, especially one valued at less than the principal unit of currency.
- 5An artistic creation, such as a painting, sculpture, musical composition, literary work, etc.
- 6An article published in the press.
- 7An artillery gun.
- 8A gun.
- 9A toupee or wig, especially when worn by a man.
- 10A slice or other quantity of bread, eaten on its own; a sandwich or light snack.
- 11A sexual encounter; from piece of ass or piece of tail.
- 12A shoddy or worthless object (usually applied to consumer products like vehicles or appliances).
- 13A cannabis pipe.
- 14Used to describe a pitch that has been hit but not well, usually either being caught by the opposing team or going foul. Usually used in the past tense with get.
- 15An individual; a person.
- 16A castle; a fortified building.
- 17A pacifier; a dummy.
- 18A distance.
- 19A structured practice row, often used for performance evaluation.
- 20An amount of work to be done at one time; a unit of piece work.
- 21An ounce of a recreational drug.
Etymology
From Middle English pece, peece, peice, from Old French piece, from Late Latin petia, pettia, possibly from Gaulish *pettyā, from Proto-Celtic *kʷezdis (“piece, portion, quota”). Compare Welsh peth, Breton pez (“thing”), Irish cuid. Compare French pièce, Portuguese peça, Spanish pieza, Italian pezza, Italian pezzo.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ipece,peice,picee,piecce,pieec,ppiece
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of piece - 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 “piece”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-I-E-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /piːs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “pipe” - see the side-by-side comparison. piece vs pipe
- 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.