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science

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

7 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "science", 7-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "science" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "science" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

science is aEnglishnoun. It means: A particular discipline or branch of knowledge that is natural, measurable or consisting of systematic principles rather than intuition or technical skill. Pronounced /ˈsaɪ.əns/. It ranks #795 in English word frequency. Often confused with since and Spence.

Key facts for science
PropertyValue
Headwordscience
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈsaɪ.əns/
Letters7
Frequency rank#795
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of science in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for science is 7 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsaɪ.əns/. Corpus data places it at rank #795 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 11 documented wrong-spelling variants for science, with forms such as "csience", "sccience", and "sceince". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "since", "Spence", "silence", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English science, scyence, borrowed from Old French science, escience, from Latin scientia (“knowledge”), from sciens, the present participle stem of scire (“to know”). Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is science, spelled S-C-I-E-N-C-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A particular discipline or branch of knowledge that is natural, measurable or consisting of systematic principles rather than intuition or technical skill.
  2. 2
    Specifically the natural sciences.
  3. 3
    Knowledge gained through study or practice; mastery of a particular discipline or area.
  4. 4
    The fact of knowing something; knowledge or understanding of a truth.
  5. 5
    The collective discipline of study or learning acquired through the scientific method; the sum of knowledge gained from such methods and discipline.
  6. 6
    Knowledge derived from scientific disciplines, scientific method, or any systematic effort.
  7. 7
    The scientific community.
  8. 8
    Synonym of sweet science (“the sport of boxing”).

Etymology

From Middle English science, scyence, borrowed from Old French science, escience, from Latin scientia (“knowledge”), from sciens, the present participle stem of scire (“to know”).

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: csience,sccience,sceince,sciance,sciecne,sciencce,scienec,sciennce,scinece,sicence,sscience

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for science

Misspelling Variants of "science"

csience7sccience8sceince7sciance7sciecne7sciencce8scienec7sciennce8
Misspelling Variants of "science"

Frequency rank: #795 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "science"?
"science" is spelled S-C-I-E-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsaɪ.əns/.
What does "science" mean?
As a noun, "science" means: A particular discipline or branch of knowledge that is natural, measurable or consisting of systematic principles rather than intuition or technical skill.
What words are commonly confused with "science"?
"science" is commonly confused with "since", "Spence", "silence". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "science"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "science" is /ˈsaɪ.əns/. 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 "science"?
From Middle English science, scyence, borrowed from Old French science, escience, from Latin scientia (“knowledge”), from sciens, the present participle stem of scire (“to know”). 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter S in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.