thyristor
"thyristor" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“thyristor” is uncommon English (frequency #98,801 among 27,828 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #98,801
- frequency rank, English
- 27,828
- “T” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A semiconductor diode having an extra "gate" terminal to switch it on.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | thyristor |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #98,801 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “thyristor” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
thyristor is uncommon English at frequency #98,801 among 27,828 “T” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A semiconductor diode having an extra "gate" terminal to switch it on.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for thyristor, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: Blend of thyratron (1930) + transistor (1947). First attested c. 1965, as an alternative name for the Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR) developed in the late 1950s. The correct English form is thyristor, spelled T-H-Y-R-I-S-T-O-R.
Definition
- 1A semiconductor diode having an extra "gate" terminal to switch it on.
Etymology
Blend of thyratron (1930) + transistor (1947). First attested c. 1965, as an alternative name for the Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR) developed in the late 1950s.
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 “thyristor”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-H-Y-R-I-S-T-O-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- 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.