seize
/siːz/
"seize" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“seize” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #9,669. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #9,669
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - To deliberately take hold of; to grab or capture.
Corpus desk
Index EN-seize · seize · English
seize · rank #9,669 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #9,669
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH sausage
Nearest frequency peer: sausage (-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 “seize”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- royalty
royalty
90,335 corpus weight
- Sandra
Sandra
90,334 corpus weight
- sausage
sausage
90,333 corpus weight
- seize
seize
90,332 corpus weight
- SIM
SIM
90,331 corpus weight
- skeleton
skeleton
90,330 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “seize” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | seize |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /siːz/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #9,669 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “seize” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around seize (IPA /siːz/), averb. Corpus frequency is #9,669 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 13 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for seize, with forms such as "esize", "seiez", and "seizze". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sie", "sez", "side", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Earlier seise, from Middle English seisen, sesen, saisen, from Old French seisir (“to take possession of; invest (person, court)”), from Early Medieval Latin sacīre (“to lay claim to, appropriate”) (8th century) in the phrase ad propriam sacire, from Old Lo… The correct English form is seize, spelled S-E-I-Z-E.
Definition
- 1To deliberately take hold of; to grab or capture.
- 2To take advantage of (an opportunity or circumstance).
- 3To take possession of (by force, law etc.).
- 4To have a sudden and powerful effect upon.
- 5Alternative spelling of seise (“to vest ownership of an estate in land”).
- 6To bind, lash or make fast, with several turns of small rope, cord, or small line.
- 7To fasten, fix.
- 8To lay hold in seizure, by hands or claws (+ on or upon).
- 9To have a seizure.
- 10To bind or lock in position immovably; see also seize up.
- 11To submit for consideration to a deliberative body.
- 12(with of) To cause (an action or matter) to be or remain before (a certain judge or court).
- 13Of chocolate: to change suddenly from a fluid to an undesirably hard and gritty texture.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how seize appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
to seize smuggled goods
to seize a ship after libeling
Etymology
Earlier seise, from Middle English seisen, sesen, saisen, from Old French seisir (“to take possession of; invest (person, court)”), from Early Medieval Latin sacīre (“to lay claim to, appropriate”) (8th century) in the phrase ad propriam sacire, from Old Low Frankish *sakjan (“to sue, bring legal action”), from Proto-Germanic *sakjaną, *sakōną (compare Old English sacian (“to strive, brawl”)), from Proto-Germanic *sakaną (compare Old Saxon sakan (“to accuse”), Old High German sahhan (“to bicker, quarrel, rebuke”), Old English sacan (“to quarrel, claim by law, accuse”). Cognate to sake and Latin sāgiō (“to perceive acutely”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- esize
- seiez
- seizze
- sezie
- sieze
- sseize
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of seize - 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.
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 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "seize"?
What does "seize" mean?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "seize", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "seize". Here's where to go from here.
- "seize" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "sie". View pair
- 6 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #9,669 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse
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.