second
/ˈsɛk.ənd/
"second" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“second” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #212 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #212
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 10
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Number-two; following after the first one with nothing between them. The ordinal number corresponding to the cardinal number two.
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 | second |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈsɛk.ənd/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #212 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “second” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for second is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsɛk.ənd/. Corpus data places it at rank #212 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for second, with forms such as "escond", "sceond", and "seccond". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 10 confusable-pair relationships, "send", "seton", "Seong", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English secunde, second, secound, secund, borrowed from Old French second, seond, from Latin secundus (“following, next in order”), from root of sequor (“to follow”), from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to follow”). Doublet of secund and secundo. … The correct English form is second, spelled S-E-C-O-N-D.
Definition
- 1Number-two; following after the first one with nothing between them. The ordinal number corresponding to the cardinal number two.
- 2Next to the first in value, power, excellence, dignity, or rank; secondary; subordinate; inferior.
- 3Being of the same kind as one that has preceded; another.
Etymology
From Middle English secunde, second, secound, secund, borrowed from Old French second, seond, from Latin secundus (“following, next in order”), from root of sequor (“to follow”), from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to follow”). Doublet of secund and secundo. Displaced native twoth and partially displaced native other (from Old English ōþer (“other; next; second”)).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: escond,sceond,seccond,secnod,secodn,secondd,seconnd,seocnd,ssecond
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of second - 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
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Using “second”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-E-C-O-N-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsɛk.ənd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “send” - see the side-by-side comparison. second vs send
- 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.