spirit

/ˈspɪɹɪt/

//ˈspɪɹɪt// noun

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

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

The verdict

“spirit” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,704. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,704
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
16
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The soul of a person or other creature.

Corpus desk

Index EN-spirit · spirit · English

spirit · rank #1,704 · 9 variants · 16 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,704
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 16 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH Richard

Nearest frequency peer: Richard (-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 “spirit”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “spirit” 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).

spirit vs spit
67% similar
spirit vs sport
67% similar
spirit vs split
67% similar

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

Key facts for spirit
PropertyValue
Headwordspirit
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈspɪɹɪt/
Letters6
Frequency rank#1,704
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs16
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “spirit”

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).spiritlands 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 “Richard” (#1,703), “television” (#1,705), “removed” (#1,702). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “spirit” is #1,704. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around spirit (IPA /ˈspɪɹɪt/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,704 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 14 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for spirit, with forms such as "psirit", "siprit", and "spiirt". 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 16 confusable-pair relationships, "spit", "sport", "split", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English spirit, from Old French espirit (“spirit”), from Latin spīritus (“breath; spirit”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys- (“to blow, breathe”). Compare inspire, respire, transpire, all ultimately from Latin spīrō (“to breathe, blow, respire… The correct English form is spirit, spelled S-P-I-R-I-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    The soul of a person or other creature.
  2. 2
    A supernatural being, often but not exclusively without physical form; ghost, fairy, angel.
  3. 3
    Enthusiasm.
  4. 4
    The manner or style of something.
  5. 5
    Intent; real meaning; opposed to the letter, or formal statement.
  6. 6
    A volatile liquid, such as alcohol. The plural form spirits is a generic term for distilled alcoholic beverages.
  7. 7
    Energy; ardour.
  8. 8
    One who is vivacious or lively; one who evinces great activity or peculiar characteristics of mind or temper.
  9. 9
    Temper or disposition of mind; mental condition or disposition; intellectual or moral state.
  10. 10
    Air set in motion by breathing; breath; hence, sometimes, life itself.
  11. 11
    A rough breathing; an aspirate, such as the letter h; also, a mark denoting aspiration.
  12. 12
    Any of the four substances: sulphur, sal ammoniac, quicksilver, and arsenic (or, according to some, orpiment).
  13. 13
    Stannic chloride.
  14. 14
    The essence behind historical development of both individual and society evolving towards the Absolute.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. […] St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London. Close-packed, crushed by the buttressed height of the railway viaduct, rendered airless by huge walls of factories, it at once banished lively interest from a stranger's mind and left only a dull oppression of the spirit.
  2. […] a triumph of the spirit over the flesh.

Etymology

From Middle English spirit, from Old French espirit (“spirit”), from Latin spīritus (“breath; spirit”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys- (“to blow, breathe”). Compare inspire, respire, transpire, all ultimately from Latin spīrō (“to breathe, blow, respire”). In this sense, displaced native Middle English gast (from Old English gāst), whence modern English ghost. Doublet of spiritus, spirytus, sprite, spright, and esprit.

Synonyms

spiritliqueurliquorapparitionspectervision

This word in other languages

espíritu(Español)esprit(Français)Geist(Deutsch)espírito(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • psirit
  • siprit
  • spiirt
  • spiritt
  • spirrit
  • spirti
  • sppirit
  • spriit
  • sspirit

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

psirit2siprit2spiirt2spiritt1spirrit1spirti2sppirit1spriit2
Edit distance from "spirit"

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 "spirit"?
"spirit" is spelled S-P-I-R-I-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈspɪɹɪt/.
What does "spirit" mean?
As a noun, "spirit" means: The soul of a person or other creature.
What words are commonly confused with "spirit"?
"spirit" is commonly confused with "spit", "sport", "split". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "spirit"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "spirit" is /ˈspɪɹɪt/. 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 "spirit"?
From Middle English spirit, from Old French espirit (“spirit”), from Latin spīritus (“breath; spirit”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys- (“to blow, breathe”). Compare inspire, respire, transpire, all ultimately from Latin spīrō (“to breathe, blo... 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 "spirit", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

movies#1,699leaves#1,698indeed#1,697handle#1,695

Similar misspelling depth

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

dollars9 variantscorrect9 variantswindow9 variantssmaller9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list