speech

/spiːt͡ʃ/

//spiːt͡ʃ// noun

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

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

The verdict

“speech” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,506. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,506
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
15
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The ability to speak; the faculty of uttering words or articulate sounds and vocalizations to communicate.

Corpus desk

Index EN-speech · speech · English

speech · rank #1,506 · 9 variants · 15 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,506
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 15 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH species

Nearest frequency peer: species (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “speech”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “speech” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

speech vs speed
67% similar
speech vs speer
67% similar
speech vs speeds
67% similar

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

Key facts for speech
PropertyValue
Headwordspeech
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/spiːt͡ʃ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#1,506
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs15
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “speech” sits in English frequency

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).speechlands 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 “species” (#1,505), “traffic” (#1,507), “slow” (#1,504). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around speech (IPA /spiːt͡ʃ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,506 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for speech, with forms such as "pseech", "sepech", and "speceh". 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 15 confusable-pair relationships, "speed", "speer", "speeds", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English speche, from Old English spǣċ, sprǣċ (“speech, discourse, language”), from Proto-West Germanic *sprāku (“speech, language”), from Proto-Indo-European *spereg-, *spreg- (“to make a sound”). Cognate with Dutch spraak (“speech”), German Spr… The correct English form is speech, spelled S-P-E-E-C-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    The ability to speak; the faculty of uttering words or articulate sounds and vocalizations to communicate.
  2. 2
    The act of speaking, a certain style of it.
  3. 3
    A formal session of speaking, especially a long oral message given publicly by one person.
  4. 4
    A dialect, vernacular, or (dated) a language.
  5. 5
    Language used orally, rather than in writing.
  6. 6
    An utterance that is quoted; see direct speech, reported speech
  7. 7
    Public talk, news, gossip, rumour.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He had a bad speech impediment.
  2. After the accident she lost her speech.

Etymology

From Middle English speche, from Old English spǣċ, sprǣċ (“speech, discourse, language”), from Proto-West Germanic *sprāku (“speech, language”), from Proto-Indo-European *spereg-, *spreg- (“to make a sound”). Cognate with Dutch spraak (“speech”), German Sprache (“language, speech”). More at speak.

Synonyms

locutionparlancespeech

This word in other languages

habla(Español)parole(Français)Sprache(Deutsch)fala(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • pseech
  • sepech
  • speceh
  • spech
  • speecch
  • speechh
  • speehc
  • sppeech
  • sspeech

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of speech - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

pseech2sepech2speceh2spech1speecch1speechh1speehc2sppeech1
Edit distance from "speech"

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 "speech"?
"speech" is spelled S-P-E-E-C-H. The IPA pronunciation is /spiːt͡ʃ/.
What does "speech" mean?
As a noun, "speech" means: The ability to speak; the faculty of uttering words or articulate sounds and vocalizations to communicate.
What words are commonly confused with "speech"?
"speech" is commonly confused with "speed", "speer", "speeds". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "speech"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "speech" is /spiːt͡ʃ/. 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 "speech"?
From Middle English speche, from Old English spǣċ, sprǣċ (“speech, discourse, language”), from Proto-West Germanic *sprāku (“speech, language”), from Proto-Indo-European *spereg-, *spreg- (“to make a sound”). Cognate with Dutch spraak (“speech”), ... 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 "speech", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

signed#1,503screen#1,501Robert#1,499agreed#1,515

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

traffic9 variantsreceive9 variantsplaced9 variantsdemand9 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "speech". Here's where to go from here.

  • "speech" maps to 15 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "speed". View pair
  • 9 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #1,506 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list