sterilise
"sterilise" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sterilise” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Alternative spelling of sterilize.
Corpus desk
Index EN-sterilise · sterilise · English
sterilise · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sterilise |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “sterilise” in English
Rare enough to double-check
sterilise is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Alternative spelling of sterilize.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for sterilise in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From sterile + -ise. The correct English form is sterilise, spelled S-T-E-R-I-L-I-S-E.
Definition
- 1Alternative spelling of sterilize.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how sterilise appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The use of heat as a sterilising agent is a method of long standing and is particularly effective against most insects. Insects are very susceptible to high temperatures, the ultramaximum temperature—the temperature which will kill an insect instantly—being for the great majority of insects about 140 degrees F. A moderately high temperature, however, if a…
[…] one tablet completely sterilises a quart of water, tastelessly, without discolouration or odour.
Etymology
From sterile + -ise.
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.