quicken
/ˈkwɪk(ə)n/
"quicken" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“quicken” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #34,655 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #34,655
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Senses relating to life or states of activity.
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 | quicken |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈkwɪk(ə)n/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #34,655 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “quicken” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for quicken is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkwɪk(ə)n/. Corpus data places it at rank #34,655 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 17 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for quicken, with forms such as "qiucken", "qquicken", and "quciken". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "quickly", "quicker", "quickie", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English quikenen (“to become alive again after dying; to raise (someone) from the dead; to regain consciousness or strength; to give vitality, revive; to regain validity; to nourish; to spare (the life of someone or something); to ignite; to ill… The correct English form is quicken, spelled Q-U-I-C-K-E-N.
Definition
- 1Senses relating to life or states of activity.
- 2Senses relating to life or states of activity.
- 3Senses relating to life or states of activity.
- 4Senses relating to life or states of activity.
- 5Senses relating to life or states of activity.
- 6Senses relating to life or states of activity.
- 7Senses relating to life or states of activity.
- 8Senses relating to life or states of activity.
- 9Senses relating to life or states of activity.
- 10Senses relating to life or states of activity.
- 11Senses relating to life or states of activity.
- 12Senses relating to life or states of activity.
- 13Senses relating to life or states of activity.
- 14Senses relating to life or states of activity.
- 15Senses relating to speed.
- 16Senses relating to speed.
- 17Senses relating to speed.
Etymology
From Middle English quikenen (“to become alive again after dying; to raise (someone) from the dead; to regain consciousness or strength; to give vitality, revive; to regain validity; to nourish; to spare (the life of someone or something); to ignite; to illuminate; of events: to happen more quickly; of clouds: to form”) [and other forms], from quiken (“to come to life; to become alive again after dying; to give or regain vitality, revive; of a seed: to germinate, grow; to arouse (anger); to inspire; to reinforce, strengthen; to make (a substance) alchemically active; to nourish, sustain; to sharpen; to ignite; to illuminate; of news: to spread”) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive forms of verbs). Quiken is derived from Old English cwician (“to bring to life, vivify; to come to life, become living; to quicken”), from cwic (“alive, live, living; mentally agile; intelligent, keen”) (ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kwikwaz (“alive; lively; quick”) and Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- (“to live”)) + -ian (suffix forming verbs from adjectives and nouns). The English word may be analysed as quick (“moving with swiftness; occurring in a short time; (archaic) alive, living; (archaic) pregnant”) + -en (suffix attached to some adjectives forming transitive verbs meaning ‘to make [adjective]’). Cognates * Danish kvikne (“to quicken, revive”) * Icelandic kvikna (“to ignite; to turn on”) * Swedish kvickna (“to revive”)
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: qiucken,qquicken,quciken,quiccken,quicekn,quickenn,quickken,quickne,quikcen,uqicken
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of quicken - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "quicken"?
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Using “quicken”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is Q-U-I-C-K-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkwɪk(ə)n/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “quickly” - see the side-by-side comparison. quicken vs quickly
- 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.