talent
/ˈtælənt/
"talent" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“talent” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,318 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #2,318
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 13
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A marked natural ability or skill.
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 | talent |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈtælənt/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #2,318 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 13 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “talent” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for talent is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈtælənt/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,318 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for talent, with forms such as "atlent", "taelnt", and "talennt". 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 13 confusable-pair relationships, "tent", "tales", "Trent", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English talent, from Old English talente, borrowed from the plural of Latin talentum (“a Grecian weight; a talent of money”), from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton, “balance, a particular weight, especially of gold, sum of money, a talent”). Com… The correct English form is talent, spelled T-A-L-E-N-T.
Definition
- 1A marked natural ability or skill.
- 2A unit of weight and money used in ancient times in Greece, the Roman Empire, and the Middle East, equal to about 30 to 60 kg in various times and places.
- 3A desire or inclination for something.
- 4People of talent, viewed collectively; a talented person.
- 5The men or (especially) women of a place or area, judged by their attractiveness.
Etymology
From Middle English talent, from Old English talente, borrowed from the plural of Latin talentum (“a Grecian weight; a talent of money”), from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton, “balance, a particular weight, especially of gold, sum of money, a talent”). Compare Old High German talenta (“talent”). Later figurative senses are from Old French talent (“talent, will, inclination, desire”), derived from the biblical Parable of the Talents.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: atlent,taelnt,talennt,talentt,taletn,tallent,talnet,tlaent,ttalent
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of talent - 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.
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
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Using “talent”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-A-L-E-N-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈtælənt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “tent” - see the side-by-side comparison. talent vs tent
- 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.