recipient
/ɹəˈsɪp.i.ənt/
"recipient" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“recipient” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #7,838 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #7,838
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - One who receives.
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 | recipient |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɹəˈsɪp.i.ənt/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #7,838 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “recipient” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for recipient is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹəˈsɪp.i.ənt/. Corpus data places it at rank #7,838 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for recipient, with forms such as "ercipient", "rceipient", and "reccipient". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "resilient", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French récipient, from Latin recipiēns, present participle of recipiō (“to receive”). The correct English form is recipient, spelled R-E-C-I-P-I-E-N-T.
Definition
- 1One who receives.
- 2A person receiving donor organs or tissues.
- 3The portion of an alembic or other still in which the distilled liquid is collected.
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French récipient, from Latin recipiēns, present participle of recipiō (“to receive”).
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ercipient,rceipient,reccipient,reciipent,recipeint,recipiennt,recipientt,recipietn,recipinet,recippient,recpiient,reicpient,rrecipient
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of recipient - 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 "recipient"?
What does "recipient" mean?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “recipient”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-C-I-P-I-E-N-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɹəˈsɪp.i.ənt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “resilient” - see the side-by-side comparison. recipient vs resilient
- 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.