purchase
/ˈpɝ.t͡ʃəs/
"purchase" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“purchase” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,011 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #2,011
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The acquisition of title to, or property in, anything for a price; buying for money or its equivalent.
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 | purchase |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpɝ.t͡ʃəs/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #2,011 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “purchase” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for purchase is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpɝ.t͡ʃəs/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,011 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for purchase, with forms such as "ppurchase", "pruchase", and "pucrhase". 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, "purchased", "purchaser", 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 purchasen, from Anglo-Norman purchacer (“seek to obtain”) from pur- (from Latin pro-) + chac(i)er (“to chase, pursue”). Compare Old French porchacier (“to follow, to chase”), which has given French pourchasser (“to chase without relent”). The correct English form is purchase, spelled P-U-R-C-H-A-S-E.
Definition
- 1The acquisition of title to, or property in, anything for a price; buying for money or its equivalent.
- 2That which is obtained for a price in money or its equivalent.
- 3That which is obtained, got or acquired, in any manner, honestly or dishonestly; property; possession; acquisition.
- 4The act or process of seeking and obtaining something (e.g. property, etc.)
- 5A price paid for a house or estate, etc. equal to the amount of the rent or income during the stated number of years.
- 6Any mechanical hold or advantage, applied to the raising or removing of heavy bodies, as by a lever, a tackle or capstan.
- 7The apparatus, tackle or device by which such mechanical advantage is gained and (in nautical terminology) the ratio of such a device, like a pulley, or block and tackle.
- 8The amount of hold one has from an individual foothold or ledge.
- 9Acquisition of lands or tenements by means other than descent or inheritance, namely, by one's own act or agreement.
Etymology
From Middle English purchasen, from Anglo-Norman purchacer (“seek to obtain”) from pur- (from Latin pro-) + chac(i)er (“to chase, pursue”). Compare Old French porchacier (“to follow, to chase”), which has given French pourchasser (“to chase without relent”).
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ppurchase,pruchase,pucrhase,purcahse,purcchase,purchaes,purchasse,purchhase,purchsae,purhcase,purrchase,uprchase
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of purchase - 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "purchase"?
What does "purchase" mean?
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Using “purchase”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-U-R-C-H-A-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpɝ.t͡ʃəs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “purchased” - see the side-by-side comparison. purchase vs purchased
- 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.