spice

/spaɪs/

//spaɪs// noun

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

"spice" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“spice” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #7,851. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#7,851
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Aromatic or pungent plant matter (usually dried) used to season or flavor food.

Corpus desk

Index EN-spice · spice · English

spice · rank #7,851 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #7,851
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sober

Nearest frequency peer: sober (-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 “spice”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “spice” 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).

spice vs spin
60% similar
spice vs spit
60% similar
spice vs stick
60% similar

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

Key facts for spice
PropertyValue
Headwordspice
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/spaɪs/
Letters5
Frequency rank#7,851
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “spice”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).spicelands 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 “sober” (#7,850), “squeeze” (#7,852), “simulation” (#7,849). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “spice” is #7,851. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around spice (IPA /spaɪs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #7,851 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for spice, with forms such as "psice", "sipce", and "spcie". 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, "spin", "spit", "stick", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti Proto-Italic *spekjō Late Latin speciō Proto-Italic *-jēs Late Latin -iēs Late Latin speciēs Old French espicebor. Anglo-Norman specebor. Middle English spice… The correct English form is spice, spelled S-P-I-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Aromatic or pungent plant matter (usually dried) used to season or flavor food.
  2. 2
    The quality of being spicy.
  3. 3
    Appeal, interest; an attribute that makes something appealing, interesting, or engaging.
  4. 4
    A psychoactive neocannabinoid.
  5. 5
    Sweets, candy.
  6. 6
    Species; kind.
  7. 7
    A characteristic touch or taste; smack; flavour.
  8. 8
    An aromatic odor.
  9. 9
    Erotic or pornographic material, usually written; smut.
  10. 10
    An additional input parameter used as a secondary, non-secret key in the Hasty Pudding cipher.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Vanilla itself was transplanted from Madagascar, the main source of the spice, to Polynesia a century ago.
  2. What spice level do you want for your pad thai? I recommend mild.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti Proto-Italic *spekjō Late Latin speciō Proto-Italic *-jēs Late Latin -iēs Late Latin speciēs Old French espicebor. Anglo-Norman specebor. Middle English spice English spice Inherited from Middle English spice, from Old French espice (modern épice), from Late Latin speciēs (“spice, good, ware”), from Latin speciēs (“kind, sort”). Doublet of species.

This word in other languages

especia(Español)épices(Français)Würze(Deutsch)especiaria(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • psice
  • sipce
  • spcie
  • spicce
  • spiec
  • sppice
  • sspice

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

psice2sipce2spcie2spicce1spiec2sppice1sspice1
Edit distance from "spice"

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 "spice"?
"spice" is spelled S-P-I-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /spaɪs/.
What does "spice" mean?
As a noun, "spice" means: Aromatic or pungent plant matter (usually dried) used to season or flavor food.
What words are commonly confused with "spice"?
"spice" is commonly confused with "spin", "spit", "stick". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "spice"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "spice" is /spaɪs/. 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 "spice"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti Proto-Italic *spekjō Late Latin speciō Proto-Italic *-jēs Late Latin -iēs Late Latin speciēs Old French espicebor. Anglo-Norman specebor. Middle Eng... 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 "spice", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

sober#7,850sided#7,848swept#7,857risky#7,842

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

towel7 variantstubes7 variantsnewer7 variantsashes7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list