sodium

/ˈsəʊ.dɪəm/

//ˈsəʊ.dɪəm// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"sodium" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sodium” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #8,729. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,729
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The chemical element (symbol Na) with an atomic number of 11 and atomic weight of 22.990. It is a soft, waxy, silvery, reactive alkali metal that is never found unbound in nature.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sodium · sodium · English

sodium · rank #8,729 · 8 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,729
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sliding

Nearest frequency peer: sliding (-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 “sodium”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “sodium” 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).

sodium vs Sodom
50% similar
sodium vs stadium
71% similar
sodium vs sadism
67% similar

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

Key facts for sodium
PropertyValue
Headwordsodium
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈsəʊ.dɪəm/
Letters6
Frequency rank#8,729
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “sodium”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).sodiumlands here:

#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. Same rarity band neighbours include “sliding” (#8,728), “surplus” (#8,730), “swallow” (#8,731). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sodium” is #8,729. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around sodium (IPA /ˈsəʊ.dɪəm/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #8,729 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for sodium, with forms such as "osdium", "sdoium", and "soddium". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "Sodom", "stadium", "sadism", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Coined by British chemist Humphry Davy in 1808, from soda + -ium. The correct English form is sodium, spelled S-O-D-I-U-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    The chemical element (symbol Na) with an atomic number of 11 and atomic weight of 22.990. It is a soft, waxy, silvery, reactive alkali metal that is never found unbound in nature.
  2. 2
    Employing sodium.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. From Keighley onwards we had obviously returned to civilisation, for the surrounding country was now studded with the sodium street lights of suburbia and a thickening industrial haze was blotting out the moon.

Etymology

Coined by British chemist Humphry Davy in 1808, from soda + -ium.

Synonyms

natrium

This word in other languages

sodio(Español)sodium(Français)Natrium(Deutsch)sódio(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • osdium
  • sdoium
  • soddium
  • sodimu
  • sodiumm
  • soduim
  • soidum
  • ssodium

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sodium - 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.

osdium2sdoium2soddium1sodimu2sodiumm1soduim2soidum2ssodium1
Edit distance from "sodium"

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 "sodium"?
"sodium" is spelled S-O-D-I-U-M. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsəʊ.dɪəm/.
What does "sodium" mean?
As a noun, "sodium" means: The chemical element (symbol Na) with an atomic number of 11 and atomic weight of 22.990. It is a soft, waxy, silvery, reactive alkali metal that is never found unbound in nature.
What words are commonly confused with "sodium"?
"sodium" is commonly confused with "Sodom", "stadium", "sadism". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sodium"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sodium" is /ˈsəʊ.dɪəm/. 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 "sodium"?
Coined by British chemist Humphry Davy in 1808, from soda + -ium. 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 "sodium", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

repeal#8,718breeze#8,761marker#8,686coupon#8,773

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

marsh8 variantsfulfill8 variantshardy8 variantsjumps8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list