prayer

/pɹɛə/

//pɹɛə// noun

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

"prayer" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“prayer” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,520. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,520
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
18
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A practice of communicating with one's God, or with some spiritual entity.

Corpus desk

Index EN-prayer · prayer · English

prayer · rank #3,520 · 9 variants · 18 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,520
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 18 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH Philadelphia

Nearest frequency peer: Philadelphia (-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 “prayer”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “prayer” 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

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

prayer vs Pryor
50% similar
prayer vs prays
67% similar
prayer vs proper
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for prayer
PropertyValue
Headwordprayer
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pɹɛə/
Letters6
Frequency rank#3,520
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs18
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “prayer”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).prayerlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “Philadelphia” (#3,519), “principles” (#3,521), “participate” (#3,518). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “prayer” is #3,520. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around prayer (IPA /pɹɛə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,520 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for prayer, with forms such as "paryer", "pprayer", and "praeyr". 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 18 confusable-pair relationships, "Pryor", "prays", "proper", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English preiere, from Old French preiere, from Early Medieval Latin precāria, derived from Latin precem. Displaced native Old English ġebed (whence modern English bead). The correct English form is prayer, spelled P-R-A-Y-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A practice of communicating with one's God, or with some spiritual entity.
  2. 2
    An act of praying.
  3. 3
    The specific words or methods used for praying.
  4. 4
    A meeting held for the express purpose of praying.
  5. 5
    A request; a petition.
  6. 6
    The remotest hope or chance.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Through prayer I ask for God's guidance.
  2. In many cultures, prayer involves singing.

Etymology

From Middle English preiere, from Old French preiere, from Early Medieval Latin precāria, derived from Latin precem. Displaced native Old English ġebed (whence modern English bead).

Synonyms

orisonprecationbead

This word in other languages

oración(Español)prière(Français)Gebet(Deutsch)oração(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • paryer
  • pprayer
  • praeyr
  • prayerr
  • prayre
  • prayyer
  • prrayer
  • pryaer
  • rpayer

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of prayer - 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.

paryer2pprayer1praeyr2prayerr1prayre2prayyer1prrayer1pryaer2
Edit distance from "prayer"

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 "prayer"?
"prayer" is spelled P-R-A-Y-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /pɹɛə/.
What does "prayer" mean?
As a noun, "prayer" means: A practice of communicating with one's God, or with some spiritual entity.
What words are commonly confused with "prayer"?
"prayer" is commonly confused with "Pryor", "prays", "proper". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "prayer"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "prayer" is /pɹɛə/. 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 "prayer"?
From Middle English preiere, from Old French preiere, from Early Medieval Latin precāria, derived from Latin precem. Displaced native Old English ġebed (whence modern English bead). 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 "prayer", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

racist#3,522rarely#3,523Moscow#3,511morgan#3,510

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

judges9 variantswalker9 variantswhoever9 variantsArthur9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list