race
/ɹeɪs/
"race" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“race” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #882 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #882
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A contest between people, animals, vehicles, etc. where the goal is to be the first to reach some objective.
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 | race |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɹeɪs/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #882 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “race” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for race is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹeɪs/. Corpus data places it at rank #882 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for race, with forms such as "arce", "racce", and "raec". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "re", "RC", "ran", 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 race, partially from Old English rǣs (“a race, swift or violent running, rush, onset”), from Proto-West Germanic *rās; and partially from Old Norse rás (“a running, race”); both from Proto-Germanic *rēsō (“a course”), from Proto-Indo-Eur… The correct English form is race, spelled R-A-C-E.
Definition
- 1A contest between people, animals, vehicles, etc. where the goal is to be the first to reach some objective.
- 2Swift progress; rapid motion; an instance of moving or driving at high speed.
- 3A race condition; a bug or problem that occurs when two or more components attempt to use the same resource at the same time.
- 4A sequence of events; a progressive movement toward a goal.
- 5A fast-moving current of water.
- 6A water channel, especially one built to lead water to or from a point where it is utilised, such as that which powers a millwheel.
- 7A path that something or someone moves along.
- 8A guide or channel that a component of a machine moves along:
- 9A guide or channel that a component of a machine moves along:
- 10A keno gambling session.
Etymology
From Middle English race, partially from Old English rǣs (“a race, swift or violent running, rush, onset”), from Proto-West Germanic *rās; and partially from Old Norse rás (“a running, race”); both from Proto-Germanic *rēsō (“a course”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁s- (“to flow, rush”). Cognate with Middle Low German râs ("a strong current"; whence German Low German Raas (“mad rush, rage, fury”)), Dutch ras (“a strong whirling current”), Danish ræs, Norwegian and Swedish ras, Norwegian rås.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: arce,racce,raec,rcae,rrace
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of race - 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
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Using “race”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-A-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɹeɪs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “re” - see the side-by-side comparison. race vs re
- 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.