schism
/ˈskɪzəm/
"schism" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“schism” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #28,711 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #28,711
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A split or separation within a group or organization, typically caused by discord.
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 | schism |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈskɪzəm/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #28,711 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “schism” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for schism is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈskɪzəm/. Corpus data places it at rank #28,711 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 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 schism, with forms such as "cshism", "scchism", and "schhism". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "shim", "sexism", "Schiff", 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 scisme, from Old French cisme or scisme, from Ancient Greek σχίσμα (skhísma, “division”), from σχίζω (skhízō, “I split”). Doublet of schisma. Compare chasm. This word was historically pronounced /ˈsɪzəm/ (and still is among the clergy); … The correct English form is schism, spelled S-C-H-I-S-M.
Definition
- 1A split or separation within a group or organization, typically caused by discord.
- 2A formal division or split within a religious body.
- 3a split within Christianity whereby a group no longer recognizes the Bishop of Rome as the head of the Church, but shares essentially the same beliefs with the Church of Rome. In other words, a political split without the introduction of heresy.
Etymology
From Middle English scisme, from Old French cisme or scisme, from Ancient Greek σχίσμα (skhísma, “division”), from σχίζω (skhízō, “I split”). Doublet of schisma. Compare chasm. This word was historically pronounced /ˈsɪzəm/ (and still is among the clergy); the pronunciations /ˈʃɪzəm/, /ˈskɪzəm/ are due to the spelling (the latter may have been reinforced by learned influence); compare schedule.
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: cshism,scchism,schhism,schims,schismm,schissm,schsim,scihsm,shcism,sschism
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of schism - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “schism”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-C-H-I-S-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈskɪzəm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “shim” - see the side-by-side comparison. schism vs shim
- 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.