Spice Islands

name

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

"spice-islands" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Spice Islands” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The Moluccas or Maluku Islands, an archipelago in Indonesia comprising the provinces of Maluku and North Maluku.

Key facts for Spice Islands
PropertyValue
HeadwordSpice Islands
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Spice Islands” sits in English frequency

Spice Islands falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Spice Islands is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aproper noun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for Spice Islands in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: Refers to the importance of the islands for the supply of certain important spices. Clove trees are native to the Maluku Islands, and for some centuries a monopoly of supply existed, until plants were smuggled out and cultivated in Zanzibar. The correct English form is Spice Islands, spelled S-P-I-C-E- -I-S-L-A-N-D-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    The Moluccas or Maluku Islands, an archipelago in Indonesia comprising the provinces of Maluku and North Maluku.
  2. 2
    The Zanzibar Archipelago, in the Zanzibar semi-autonomous region of Tanzania.

Etymology

Refers to the importance of the islands for the supply of certain important spices. Clove trees are native to the Maluku Islands, and for some centuries a monopoly of supply existed, until plants were smuggled out and cultivated in Zanzibar.

This word in other languages

Gewürzinseln(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Spice Islands"?
"Spice Islands" is spelled S-P-I-C-E- -I-S-L-A-N-D-S.
What does "Spice Islands" mean?
As a proper noun, "Spice Islands" means: The Moluccas or Maluku Islands, an archipelago in Indonesia comprising the provinces of Maluku and North Maluku.
What is the origin of the word "Spice Islands"?
Refers to the importance of the islands for the supply of certain important spices. Clove trees are native to the Maluku Islands, and for some centuries a monopoly of supply existed, until plants were smuggled out and cultivated in Zanzibar. 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.

Using “Spice Islands”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-P-I-C-E- -I-S-L-A-N-D-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list