rutherford

noun

"rutherford" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“rutherford” has 16 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #17,946. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#17,946
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords
16
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An obsolete unit of radioactivity (symbol: rd), defined as the activity of a quantity of radioactive material in which one million nuclei decay per second.

Corpus desk

Index EN-rutherford · rutherford · English

rutherford · rank #17,946 · 16 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #17,946
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 16 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH rustic

Nearest frequency peer: rustic (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “rutherford”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “rutherford” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for rutherford
PropertyValue
Headwordrutherford
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Frequency rank#17,946
Misspellings tracked16
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “rutherford” sits in English frequency

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).rutherfordlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “rustic” (#17,945), “Rollins” (#17,944), “sanitary” (#17,948). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 16 spelling variants around rutherford, anoun. Corpus frequency is #17,946 among 3,094 “R” headwords. Dominant gloss: "An obsolete unit of radioactivity (symbol: rd), defined as the activity of a quantity of radioactive material in which one million nuclei decay per second.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for rutherford, with forms such as "rrutherford", "rtuherford", and "ruhterford". 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 is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: After Ernest Rutherford. The correct English form is rutherford, spelled R-U-T-H-E-R-F-O-R-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    An obsolete unit of radioactivity (symbol: rd), defined as the activity of a quantity of radioactive material in which one million nuclei decay per second.

Etymology

After Ernest Rutherford.

Synonyms

megabecquerel

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • rrutherford
  • rtuherford
  • ruhterford
  • rutehrford
  • ruthefrord
  • rutherfford
  • rutherfodr
  • rutherfordd
  • rutherforrd
  • rutherfrod
  • rutherofrd
  • rutherrford
  • ruthherford
  • ruthreford
  • ruttherford
  • urtherford

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of rutherford - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

rrutherford1rtuherford2ruhterford2rutehrford2ruthefrord2rutherfford1rutherfodr2rutherfordd1
Edit distance from "rutherford"

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 "rutherford"?
"rutherford" is spelled R-U-T-H-E-R-F-O-R-D.
What does "rutherford" mean?
As a noun, "rutherford" means: An obsolete unit of radioactivity (symbol: rd), defined as the activity of a quantity of radioactive material in which one million nuclei decay per second.
What are common misspellings of "rutherford"?
Common misspellings include "rrutherford", "rtuherford", "ruhterford", "rutehrford", "ruthefrord". The correct spelling is "rutherford".
What is the origin of the word "rutherford"?
After Ernest Rutherford. 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 "rutherford", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (16 here; floor ≥5).

What to do next

You've looked up "rutherford". Here's where to go from here.

  • 16 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #17,946 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "R" letter cohort. R–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list