spine
/spaɪn/
"spine" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“spine” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #7,983 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #7,983
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A series of bones situated at the back from the head to the pelvis of a human, or from the head to the tail of an animal, enclosing the spinal cord and providing support for the thorax and abdomen.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | spine |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /spaɪn/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #7,983 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “spine” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for spine is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /spaɪn/. Corpus data places it at rank #7,983 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 11 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for spine, with forms such as "psine", "sipne", and "spien". 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, "spit", "spun", "stone", 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 late Middle English spyne, from Old French espine (French épine) or its source, Latin spīna (“a thorn; a prickle, spine; the backbone”). Doublet of spina. The correct English form is spine, spelled S-P-I-N-E.
Definition
- 1A series of bones situated at the back from the head to the pelvis of a human, or from the head to the tail of an animal, enclosing the spinal cord and providing support for the thorax and abdomen.
- 2A series of bones situated at the back from the head to the pelvis of a human, or from the head to the tail of an animal, enclosing the spinal cord and providing support for the thorax and abdomen.
- 3Something resembling a backbone, such as a ridge, or a long, central structure from which other structures radiate.
- 4The narrow, bound edge of a book that encloses the inner edges of the pages, facing outwards when the book is on a shelf and typically bearing the title and the author's and publisher's name.
- 5A pointed, fairly rigid protuberance or needlelike structure on an animal, shell, mushroom or plant. The botanical term technically refers to such a structure derived from a leaf or part of a leaf.
- 6The heartwood of trees.
- 7Ellipsis of dendritic spine.
- 8A linear payscale operated by some large organizations that allows flexibility for local and specific conditions.
- 9A tall mass of viscous lava extruded from a volcano.
- 10The stiffness of an arrow.
- 11A central part which supports a whole; core.
Etymology
From late Middle English spyne, from Old French espine (French épine) or its source, Latin spīna (“a thorn; a prickle, spine; the backbone”). Doublet of spina.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: psine,sipne,spien,spinne,spnie,sppine,sspine
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of spine - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "spine"?
What does "spine" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "spine"?
How do you pronounce "spine"?
What is the origin of the word "spine"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “spine”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-P-I-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /spaɪn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “spit” - see the side-by-side comparison. spine vs spit
- 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.