splice

/splaɪs/

//splaɪs// noun

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

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

The verdict

“splice” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #34,295. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#34,295
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A junction or joining of ropes made by splicing them together.

Corpus desk

Index EN-splice · splice · English

splice · rank #34,295 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #34,295
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sop

Nearest frequency peer: sop (-2 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 “splice”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “splice” 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).

splice vs split
67% similar
splice vs spruce
67% similar
splice vs sprite
67% similar

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

Key facts for splice
PropertyValue
Headwordsplice
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/splaɪs/
Letters6
Frequency rank#34,295
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “splice”

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).splicelands 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 “sop” (#34,293), “spoonful” (#34,297), “spousal” (#34,298). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “splice” is #34,295. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around splice (IPA /splaɪs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #34,295 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for splice, with forms such as "pslice", "slpice", and "spilce". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "split", "spruce", "sprite", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Circa 1525, borrowed from Middle Dutch splissen (Modern Dutch splitsen); akin to Middle Dutch splitten (“to split”), German spleißen (“to split, splice”), Spliss (“split ends, hair breakage”), French épisser (also from Dutch). The Dutch word originally refe… The correct English form is splice, spelled S-P-L-I-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A junction or joining of ropes made by splicing them together.
  2. 2
    The electrical and mechanical connection between two pieces of wire or cable.
  3. 3
    That part of a bat where the handle joins the blade.
  4. 4
    Bonding or joining of overlapping materials.
  5. 5
    The process of removing intron sequences from the pre-messenger RNA, and then joining together exons.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. If the ball hits the splice, it is likely to dolly up for an easy catch.

Etymology

Circa 1525, borrowed from Middle Dutch splissen (Modern Dutch splitsen); akin to Middle Dutch splitten (“to split”), German spleißen (“to split, splice”), Spliss (“split ends, hair breakage”), French épisser (also from Dutch). The Dutch word originally referred only to the fraying of the ropes' ends but was then also used for the entire process of fraying and retying; hence the peculiar semantic development from “split” to “join”. The same development occurred in German.

This word in other languages

empalme(Español)épissure(Français)Verbindung(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • pslice
  • slpice
  • spilce
  • splcie
  • splicce
  • spliec
  • spllice
  • spplice
  • ssplice

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

pslice2slpice2spilce2splcie2splicce1spliec2spllice1spplice1
Edit distance from "splice"

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 "splice"?
"splice" is spelled S-P-L-I-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /splaɪs/.
What does "splice" mean?
As a noun, "splice" means: A junction or joining of ropes made by splicing them together.
What words are commonly confused with "splice"?
"splice" is commonly confused with "split", "spruce", "sprite". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "splice"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "splice" is /splaɪs/. 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 "splice"?
Circa 1525, borrowed from Middle Dutch splissen (Modern Dutch splitsen); akin to Middle Dutch splitten (“to split”), German spleißen (“to split, splice”), Spliss (“split ends, hair breakage”), French épisser (also from Dutch). The Dutch word origi... 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 "splice", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Stroud#34,305supple#34,310Teague#34,317Samoan#34,271

Similar misspelling depth

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

stubble9 variantsTrisha9 variantsundress9 variantsRainier9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list