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pigment

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

7 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "pigment", 7-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Wiktionary, and usage frequency ranked against an open word-frequency list covering the top 100,000 English words. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "pigment" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "pigment" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

pigment is aEnglishnoun. It means: Any color in plant or animal cells. Pronounced /ˈpɪɡ.mənt/. Often confused with piglet and payment.

Key facts for pigment
PropertyValue
Headwordpigment
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpɪɡ.mənt/
Letters7
Frequency rank#17,921
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of pigment in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for pigment is 7 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpɪɡ.mənt/. Corpus data places it at rank #17,921 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for pigment, with forms such as "ipgment", "pgiment", and "pigemnt". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "piglet", "payment", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English pigment, from Latin pigmentum (“pigment”), itself from pingō (“to paint”) + -mentum; variants of this word may have been known in Old English (e.g. 12th century pyhmentum). Doublet of pimiento, pimento, and piment. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is pigment, spelled P-I-G-M-E-N-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any color in plant or animal cells.
  2. 2
    A dry colorant, usually an insoluble powder.
  3. 3
    Wine flavoured with spices and honey.

Etymology

From Middle English pigment, from Latin pigmentum (“pigment”), itself from pingō (“to paint”) + -mentum; variants of this word may have been known in Old English (e.g. 12th century pyhmentum). Doublet of pimiento, pimento, and piment.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ipgment,pgiment,pigemnt,piggment,pigmennt,pigmentt,pigmetn,pigmment,pigmnet,pimgent,ppigment

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for pigment

Misspelling Variants of "pigment"

ipgment7pgiment7pigemnt7piggment8pigmennt8pigmentt8pigmetn7pigmment8
Misspelling Variants of "pigment"

Frequency rank: #17,921 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "pigment"?
"pigment" is spelled P-I-G-M-E-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɪɡ.mənt/.
What does "pigment" mean?
As a noun, "pigment" means: Any color in plant or animal cells.
What words are commonly confused with "pigment"?
"pigment" is commonly confused with "piglet", "payment". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "pigment"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pigment" is /ˈpɪɡ.mənt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "pigment"?
From Middle English pigment, from Latin pigmentum (“pigment”), itself from pingō (“to paint”) + -mentum; variants of this word may have been known in Old English (e.g. 12th century pyhmentum). Doublet of pimiento, pimento, and piment. 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter P in our English index:

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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.