polymer
/ˈpɒl.ɪ.mə/
"polymer" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“polymer” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #12,301 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #12,301
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A long or larger molecule consisting of a chain or network of many repeating units, formed by chemically bonding together many identical or similar small molecules called monomers. A polymer is for...
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 | polymer |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpɒl.ɪ.mə/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #12,301 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “polymer” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for polymer is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpɒl.ɪ.mə/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,301 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.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for polymer, with forms such as "oplymer", "ploymer", and "pollymer". 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. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "polymeric", "Palmer", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From poly- + -mer, from Ancient Greek πολύς (polús, “many”) + μέρος (méros, “part”). Coined by Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1833, though his definition was quite different from the modern one. The correct English form is polymer, spelled P-O-L-Y-M-E-R.
Definition
- 1A long or larger molecule consisting of a chain or network of many repeating units, formed by chemically bonding together many identical or similar small molecules called monomers. A polymer is formed by polymerization, the joining of many monomer molecules.
- 2A material consisting of such polymer molecules.
Etymology
From poly- + -mer, from Ancient Greek πολύς (polús, “many”) + μέρος (méros, “part”). Coined by Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1833, though his definition was quite different from the modern one.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: oplymer,ploymer,pollymer,polmyer,polyemr,polymerr,polymmer,polymre,polyymer,poylmer,ppolymer
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of polymer - 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 “polymer”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-O-L-Y-M-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpɒl.ɪ.mə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “polymeric” - see the side-by-side comparison. polymer vs polymeric
- 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.