smiting

verb

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

The verdict

“smiting” is uncommon English (frequency #89,916 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#89,916
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - present participle and gerund of smite

Corpus desk

Index EN-smiting · smiting · English

smiting · rank #89,916 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #89,916
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH Sneddon

Nearest frequency peer: Sneddon (+3 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.

Long-tail ranks near “smiting”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “smiting” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for smiting
PropertyValue
Headwordsmiting
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters7
Frequency rank#89,916
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “smiting” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).smitingfalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “Sneddon” (#89,919), “skittle” (#89,912), “Soleimani” (#89,922). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “smiting” is #89,916. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

smiting is uncommon English at frequency #89,916 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "present participle and gerund of smite".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for smiting, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English smytinge, smitende, smytende, smitand, from Old English smītende, from Proto-Germanic *smītandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *smītaną (“to throw, hurl, bespatter”), equivalent to smite + -ing. The correct English form is smiting, spelled S-M-I-T-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of smite

Etymology

From Middle English smytinge, smitende, smytende, smitand, from Old English smītende, from Proto-Germanic *smītandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *smītaną (“to throw, hurl, bespatter”), equivalent to smite + -ing.

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 "smiting"?
"smiting" is spelled S-M-I-T-I-N-G.
What does "smiting" mean?
As a verb, "smiting" means: present participle and gerund of smite
What is the origin of the word "smiting"?
From Middle English smytinge, smitende, smytende, smitand, from Old English smītende, from Proto-Germanic *smītandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *smītaną (“to throw, hurl, bespatter”), equivalent to smite + -ing. 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 "smiting", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list