piecewise
"piecewise" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“piecewise” is an uncommon English word, ranked #82,667 in English word frequency and used as an adverb.
- #82,667
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - In terms or by means of pieces; a piece at a time.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | piecewise |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #82,667 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “piecewise” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for piecewise is 9 letters long, classified as an adverb. Corpus data places it at rank #82,667 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
piecewise doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From piece + -wise. The correct English form is piecewise, spelled P-I-E-C-E-W-I-S-E.
Definition
- 1In terms or by means of pieces; a piece at a time.
- 2Throughout separate parts, but not necessarily throughout the whole.
Etymology
From piece + -wise.
This word in other languages
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 “piecewise”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-I-E-C-E-W-I-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- 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.