'tis
/tɪz/
"tis" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“'tis” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a contraction. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 4
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Contraction of it + is.
Corpus desk
Index EN-tis · 'tis · English
'tis · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "'" 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 | 'tis |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Contraction |
| IPA | /tɪz/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “'tis” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
'tis is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as acontraction, transcribed /tɪz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Contraction of it + is.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for 'tis, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is 'tis, spelled '-T-I-S.
Definition
- 1Contraction of it + is.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how 'tis appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
’Tis a shame!
’Tis but a scratch!
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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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.