sine
/saɪn/
"sine" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sine” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #25,577 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #25,577
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - In a right triangle, the ratio of the length of the side opposite an angle to the length of the hypotenuse.
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 | sine |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /saɪn/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #25,577 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sine” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for sine is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /saɪn/. Corpus data places it at rank #25,577 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "In a right triangle, the ratio of the length of the side opposite an angle to the length of the hypotenuse.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for sine, with forms such as "isne", "sien", and "sinne". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "six", "son", "sir", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin sinus (“curve, bend; bosom”), a translation of Arabic جَيْب (jayb, “bosom”), a misidentification of the notation جيب (j-y-b), written without vowel diacritics, standing for Arabic جِيبَ (jība, “sine”), in turn from Sanskrit ज्या (jyā, “s… The correct English form is sine, spelled S-I-N-E.
Definition
- 1In a right triangle, the ratio of the length of the side opposite an angle to the length of the hypotenuse.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin sinus (“curve, bend; bosom”), a translation of Arabic جَيْب (jayb, “bosom”), a misidentification of the notation جيب (j-y-b), written without vowel diacritics, standing for Arabic جِيبَ (jība, “sine”), in turn from Sanskrit ज्या (jyā, “sine, chord, bowstring”) through the similar Sanskrit जीव (jīva, “sine, chord, life, existence”). Doublet of sinus.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: isne,sien,sinne,snie,ssine
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sine - 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 “sine”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-I-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /saɪn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “six” - see the side-by-side comparison. sine vs six
- 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.