positivism
/ˈpɒzɪtɪvˌɪzm/
"positivism" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“positivism” is uncommon English (frequency #58,940 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #58,940
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A doctrine that states that the only authentic knowledge is scientific knowledge, and that such knowledge can only come from positive affirmation of theories through strict scientific method, refus...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | positivism |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpɒzɪtɪvˌɪzm/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #58,940 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “positivism” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
positivism is uncommon English at frequency #58,940 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpɒzɪtɪvˌɪzm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for positivism, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French positivisme, from positif (“positive”). Equivalent to positive + -ism. The correct English form is positivism, spelled P-O-S-I-T-I-V-I-S-M.
Definition
- 1A doctrine that states that the only authentic knowledge is scientific knowledge, and that such knowledge can only come from positive affirmation of theories through strict scientific method, refusing every form of metaphysics.
- 2A school of thought in jurisprudence in which the law is seen as separated from moral values; i.e. the law is posited by lawmakers (humans).
Etymology
Borrowed from French positivisme, from positif (“positive”). Equivalent to positive + -ism.
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 “positivism”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-O-S-I-T-I-V-I-S-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpɒzɪtɪvˌɪzm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.