service

/ˈsɜː.vɪs/

//ˈsɜː.vɪs// noun

"service" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“service” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #311. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#311
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An act of being of assistance to someone.

Corpus desk

Index EN-service · service · English

service · rank #311 · 10 variants · 7 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #311
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH says

Nearest frequency peer: says (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “service”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “service” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

service vs serving
71% similar
service vs survive
71% similar
service vs services
88% similar

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

Key facts for service
PropertyValue
Headwordservice
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈsɜː.vɪs/
Letters7
Frequency rank#311
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “service”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).servicelands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “says” (#310), “8” (#312), “run” (#309). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “service” is #311. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around service (IPA /ˈsɜː.vɪs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #311 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 17 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for service, with forms such as "esrvice", "serivce", and "serrvice". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "serving", "survive", "services", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English servise, from Old English serfis, from Old French servise (French service), from the verb servir, from Latin servitium (compare Portuguese serviço, Italian servizio, Norman sèrvice, Spanish servicio), from servus (“servant; serf; slave”)… The correct English form is service, spelled S-E-R-V-I-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    An act of being of assistance to someone.
  2. 2
    The state of being subordinate to or employed by an individual or group.
  3. 3
    Work as a member of the military.
  4. 4
    The practice of providing assistance as economic activity.
  5. 5
    Synonym of utility (“commodity provided on a continuous basis by a physical infrastructure network, such as electricity, water supply or sewerage”).
  6. 6
    A department in a company, organization, or institution.
  7. 7
    A function that is provided by one program or machine for another.
  8. 8
    The military.
  9. 9
    A set of dishes or utensils.
  10. 10
    The act of initially starting, or serving, the ball in play in tennis, volleyball, and other games.
  11. 11
    A religious rite or ritual.
  12. 12
    The serving, or delivery, of a summons or writ.
  13. 13
    A taxi shared among unrelated passengers, each of whom pays part of the fare; often, it has a fixed route between cities.
  14. 14
    A musical composition for use in churches.
  15. 15
    Profession of respect; acknowledgment of duty owed.
  16. 16
    The materials used for serving a rope, etc., such as spun yarn and small lines.
  17. 17
    Access to resources such as hotel rooms and Web-based videos without transfer of the resources' ownership.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. I say I did him a service by ending our relationship – now he can freely pursue his career.
  2. The Parliament for ever cries more money, / The service of the state demands more money. / Just heaven! of what service is the state?

Etymology

From Middle English servise, from Old English serfis, from Old French servise (French service), from the verb servir, from Latin servitium (compare Portuguese serviço, Italian servizio, Norman sèrvice, Spanish servicio), from servus (“servant; serf; slave”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser-wo-s (“guardian”), possibly from *ser- (“watch over, protect”). Displaced native Old English þeġnung.

Antonyms

antonym(s) of

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • esrvice
  • serivce
  • serrvice
  • servcie
  • servicce
  • serviec
  • servvice
  • sevrice
  • srevice
  • sservice

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of service - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

esrvice2serivce2serrvice1servcie2servicce1serviec2servvice1sevrice2
Edit distance from "service"

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

How do you spell "service"?
"service" is spelled S-E-R-V-I-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsɜː.vɪs/.
What does "service" mean?
As a noun, "service" means: An act of being of assistance to someone.
What words are commonly confused with "service"?
"service" is commonly confused with "serving", "survive", "services". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "service"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "service" is /ˈsɜː.vɪs/. 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 "service"?
From Middle English servise, from Old English serfis, from Old French servise (French service), from the verb servir, from Latin servitium (compare Portuguese serviço, Italian servizio, Norman sèrvice, Spanish servicio), from servus (“servant; ser... 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 "service", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list