tempo
/ˈtɛm.pəʊ/
"tempo" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tempo” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #10,621 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #10,621
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 11
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A frequency or rate.
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 | tempo |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈtɛm.pəʊ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #10,621 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tempo” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for tempo is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈtɛm.pəʊ/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,621 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 8 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 tempo, with forms such as "etmpo", "temmpo", and "temop". 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 11 confusable-pair relationships, "Teo", "typo", "tempt", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Italian tempo, from Latin tempus (“time”). Doublet of tense. (truck or cargo van): A genericized trademark, originally associated with the manufacturer Vidal & Sohn Tempo-Werke GmbH. The correct English form is tempo, spelled T-E-M-P-O.
Definition
- 1A frequency or rate.
- 2A move which is part of one's own plan or strategy and forces, e.g. by means of a check or attacking a piece, the opponent to make a move which is not bad but of no use (the player gains a tempo, the opponent loses a tempo), or equivalently a player achieves the same result in fewer moves by one approach rather than another.
- 3The timing advantage of being on lead, thus being first to initiate a strategy to develop tricks for one's side.
- 4The timing of a particular event – earlier or later than in an alternative situation (as in chess example)
- 5The number of beats per minute in a piece of music; also, an indicative term denoting approximate rate of speed in written music (examples: allegro, andante)
- 6The steady pace set by the frontmost riders.
- 7A small truck or cargo van with three or four wheels, commonly used for commercial transport and deliveries (particularly in Asian and African countries).
- 8A rapid rate of play by the offense resulting from reducing the amount of time which elapses after one play ends and the next starts.
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian tempo, from Latin tempus (“time”). Doublet of tense. (truck or cargo van): A genericized trademark, originally associated with the manufacturer Vidal & Sohn Tempo-Werke GmbH.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: etmpo,temmpo,temop,temppo,tepmo,tmepo,ttempo
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tempo - 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
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Using “tempo”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-E-M-P-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈtɛm.pəʊ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Teo” - see the side-by-side comparison. tempo vs Teo
- 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.