safety

/ˈseɪfti/

//ˈseɪfti// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"safety" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“safety” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,147. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,147
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The condition or feeling of being safe; security; certainty.

Corpus desk

Index EN-safety · safety · English

safety · rank #1,147 · 9 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,147
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH posted

Nearest frequency peer: posted (-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 “safety”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “safety” 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

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

safety vs salty
67% similar
safety vs sanity
67% similar
safety vs surety
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for safety
PropertyValue
Headwordsafety
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈseɪfti/
Letters6
Frequency rank#1,147
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “safety” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). safety lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around safety (IPA /ˈseɪfti/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,147 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for safety, with forms such as "asfety", "saefty", and "safetty". 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 6 confusable-pair relationships, "salty", "sanity", "surety", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English savete, from Old French sauveté, from earlier salvetet, from Medieval Latin salvitās, salvitātem, from Latin salvus. The correct English form is safety, spelled S-A-F-E-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The condition or feeling of being safe; security; certainty.
  2. 2
    A safety lock or safety catch: a mechanism on a weapon or dangerous equipment designed to prevent accidental firing or operation.
  3. 3
    Preservation from escape; close custody.
  4. 4
    An instance of a player being sacked or tackled in the end zone, or stepping out of the end zone and off the field, resulting in two points to the opposite team.
  5. 5
    Any of the defensive players who are in position furthest from the line of scrimmage and whose responsibility is to defend against passes as well as to be the tacklers of last resort.
  6. 6
    A safety squeeze.
  7. 7
    A safety shot or sequence of such shots.
  8. 8
    A safety bicycle.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how safety appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. If you push it to the limit, safety is not guaranteed.
  2. He managed to reach the border and escape to safety.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English savete, from Old French sauveté, from earlier salvetet, from Medieval Latin salvitās, salvitātem, from Latin salvus.

This word in other languages

seguridad(Español)sécurité(Français)Sicherheit(Deutsch)segurança(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • asfety
  • saefty
  • safetty
  • safetyy
  • safeyt
  • saffety
  • saftey
  • sfaety
  • ssafety

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of safety - 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.

asfety2saefty2safetty1safetyy1safeyt2saffety1saftey2sfaety2
Edit distance from "safety"

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "safety"?
"safety" is spelled S-A-F-E-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈseɪfti/.
What does "safety" mean?
As a noun, "safety" means: The condition or feeling of being safe; security; certainty.
What words are commonly confused with "safety"?
"safety" is commonly confused with "salty", "sanity", "surety". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "safety"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "safety" is /ˈseɪfti/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "safety"?
Inherited from Middle English savete, from Old French sauveté, from earlier salvetet, from Medieval Latin salvitās, salvitātem, from Latin salvus. 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 "safety", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

posted#1,146sounds#1,151income#1,140asking#1,158

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

episode9 variantscalling9 variantswinning9 variantsFriday9 variants

What to do next

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

  • "safety" maps to 6 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "salty". View pair
  • 9 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #1,147 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "S" letter cohort. S–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