thermite
/ˈθɜː(ɹ).maɪt/
"thermite" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“thermite” is uncommon English (frequency #71,163 among 27,828 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #71,163
- frequency rank, English
- 27,828
- “T” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A mixture of a metal and a metal oxide capable of producing a thermite reaction, such as aluminium metal and ferric oxide; used in incendiary devices.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | thermite |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈθɜː(ɹ).maɪt/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #71,163 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “thermite” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
thermite is uncommon English at frequency #71,163 among 27,828 “T” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈθɜː(ɹ).maɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A mixture of a metal and a metal oxide capable of producing a thermite reaction, such as aluminium metal and ferric oxide; used in incendiary devices.".
thermite doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From German Thermit, from Ancient Greek θερμός (thermós, “heat”) + -it; comparable to English therm- + -ite. The correct English form is thermite, spelled T-H-E-R-M-I-T-E.
Definition
- 1A mixture of a metal and a metal oxide capable of producing a thermite reaction, such as aluminium metal and ferric oxide; used in incendiary devices.
Etymology
From German Thermit, from Ancient Greek θερμός (thermós, “heat”) + -it; comparable to English therm- + -ite.
This word in other languages
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 “thermite”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-H-E-R-M-I-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈθɜː(ɹ).maɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.