sesame
/ˈsɛsəmi/
"sesame" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sesame” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,903 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #15,903
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 8
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A tropical Asian plant (Sesamum indicum) bearing small flat seeds used as food and as a source of oil.
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 | sesame |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsɛsəmi/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #15,903 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 8 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sesame” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for sesame is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsɛsəmi/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,903 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for sesame, with forms such as "essame", "seasme", and "sesaem". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "shame", "sewage", "same", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From late Middle English sisamie, from Latin sīsamum, sēsamum, from Ancient Greek σήσαμον (sḗsamon), from Aramaic שושמא (šūššmā), shortening of שומשומא (šumššumā), from Akkadian 𒊭𒈦𒌑𒈬 (šamaššammū, “oil plant”), compound of 𒉌𒄑 (šaman, “oil”) and 𒌑 (šam… The correct English form is sesame, spelled S-E-S-A-M-E.
Definition
- 1A tropical Asian plant (Sesamum indicum) bearing small flat seeds used as food and as a source of oil.
- 2The seed of this plant.
Etymology
From late Middle English sisamie, from Latin sīsamum, sēsamum, from Ancient Greek σήσαμον (sḗsamon), from Aramaic שושמא (šūššmā), shortening of שומשומא (šumššumā), from Akkadian 𒊭𒈦𒌑𒈬 (šamaššammū, “oil plant”), compound of 𒉌𒄑 (šaman, “oil”) and 𒌑 (šammum, “plant”). The modern pronunciation is perhaps influenced by (transliterations of) Greek σησάμη (sisámi). Doublet of sesamum.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: essame,seasme,sesaem,sesamme,sesmae,sessame,sseame,ssesame
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sesame - 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 “sesame”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-E-S-A-M-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsɛsəmi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “shame” - see the side-by-side comparison. sesame vs shame
- 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.