time machine
"time-machine" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“time machine” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A hypothetical device used to travel into the past or the future.
Corpus desk
Index EN-time-machine · time machine · English
time machine · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "T" 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 | time machine |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “time machine” in English
Rare enough to double-check
time machine is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for time machine, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. 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: Coined by British science fiction author H. G. Wells in 1895 in his novel The Time Machine. The correct English form is time machine, spelled T-I-M-E- -M-A-C-H-I-N-E.
Definition
- 1A hypothetical device used to travel into the past or the future.
- 2Something that appears to take a person or thing to another time, for example through nostalgia or delay.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how time machine appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
If I had a time machine / And if life was a movie scene / I'd rewind, and I'd tell me / "Ru-u-u-u-u-u-u-un"
It's a time machine for Photoshop. It's magic. Image makers can not just combine different images, but different points in time from each image.
Etymology
Coined by British science fiction author H. G. Wells in 1895 in his novel The Time Machine.
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.