potassium

/pəˈtæsiəm/

//pəˈtæsiəm// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"potassium" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“potassium” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #13,403. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#13,403
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
11
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A soft, waxy, silvery reactive metal that is never found unbound in nature; an element with atomic number 19 and atomic weight of 39.0983.

Corpus desk

Index EN-potassium · potassium · English

potassium · rank #13,403 · 11 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #13,403
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH poisoned

Nearest frequency peer: poisoned (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “potassium”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “potassium” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for potassium
PropertyValue
Headwordpotassium
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pəˈtæsiəm/
Letters9
Frequency rank#13,403
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “potassium”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).potassiumlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “poisoned” (#13,402), “priceless” (#13,404), “projecting” (#13,405). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “potassium” is #13,403. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around potassium (IPA /pəˈtæsiəm/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #13,403 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for potassium, with forms such as "optassium", "poatssium", and "potasisum". 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 is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: Coined by British chemist Humphry Davy in 1807, from potassa (a Latinized form of potash) + -ium. The correct English form is potassium, spelled P-O-T-A-S-S-I-U-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    A soft, waxy, silvery reactive metal that is never found unbound in nature; an element with atomic number 19 and atomic weight of 39.0983.
  2. 2
    A single atom of this element.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how potassium appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. We all need potassium, and green vegetables are a good source.
  2. This reaction substitutes a potassium for a sodium.

Etymology

Coined by British chemist Humphry Davy in 1807, from potassa (a Latinized form of potash) + -ium.

Synonyms

kalium

This word in other languages

potasio(Español)potassium(Français)Kalium(Deutsch)potássio(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • optassium
  • poatssium
  • potasisum
  • potasium
  • potassimu
  • potassiumm
  • potassuim
  • potsasium
  • pottassium
  • ppotassium
  • ptoassium

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of potassium - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

optassium2poatssium2potasisum2potasium1potassimu2potassiumm1potassuim2potsasium2
Edit distance from "potassium"

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

How do you spell "potassium"?
"potassium" is spelled P-O-T-A-S-S-I-U-M. The IPA pronunciation is /pəˈtæsiəm/.
What does "potassium" mean?
As a noun, "potassium" means: A soft, waxy, silvery reactive metal that is never found unbound in nature; an element with atomic number 19 and atomic weight of 39.0983.
What are common misspellings of "potassium"?
Common misspellings include "optassium", "poatssium", "potasisum", "potasium", "potassimu". The correct spelling is "potassium".
How do you pronounce "potassium"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "potassium" is /pəˈtæsiəm/. 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 "potassium"?
Coined by British chemist Humphry Davy in 1807, from potassa (a Latinized form of potash) + -ium. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "potassium", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

priceless#13,404pineapple#13,398resisting#13,411Lexington#13,377

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

poisoned11 variantsRomanian11 variantsscissors11 variantsmustang11 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list