potency
/ˈpəʊtənsi/
"potency" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“potency” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #20,462. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #20,462
- frequency rank, English
- 4,417
- “P” headwords
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Power, authority.
Corpus desk
Index EN-potency · potency · English
potency · rank #20,462 · 11 variants · 1 confusable
- FREQ-MID #20,462
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
- VAR-MID 11 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH polio
Nearest frequency peer: polio (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “potency”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- poignant
poignant
79,541 corpus weight
- polio
polio
79,540 corpus weight
- potency
potency
79,539 corpus weight
- precarious
precarious
79,538 corpus weight
- Presley
Presley
79,537 corpus weight
- pretext
pretext
79,536 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “potency” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | potency |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpəʊtənsi/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #20,462 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “potency” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 11 spelling variants around potency (IPA /ˈpəʊtənsi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #20,462 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for potency, with forms such as "optency", "poetncy", and "potecny". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "potent", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin potentia. Doublet of Potenza. The correct English form is potency, spelled P-O-T-E-N-C-Y.
Definition
- 1Power, authority.
- 2The ability or capacity to perform something
- 3The ability or capacity to perform something
- 4Concentration; strength
- 5Potentiality, ability, capacity.
- 6Cardinality.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how potency appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I would to heauen I had your potencie, And you were Isabell: should it then be thus? No: I would tell what 'twere to be a Iudge, and what a prisoner.
The doctor is the modern master of the mythological realm, the knower of all the secret ways and words of potency.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin potentia. Doublet of Potenza.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- optency
- poetncy
- potecny
- potenccy
- potencyy
- potenncy
- potenyc
- potnecy
- pottency
- ppotency
- ptoency
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of potency - 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.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "potency"?
What does "potency" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "potency"?
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What is the origin of the word "potency"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "potency", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).
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.