tissue

/ˈtɪs.juː/

//ˈtɪs.juː// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"tissue" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tissue” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #4,195. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,195
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Thin, woven, gauze-like fabric.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tissue · tissue · English

tissue · rank #4,195 · 6 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,195
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH technologies

Nearest frequency peer: technologies (-1 rank slots)

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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “tissue”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “tissue” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

tissue vs tussle
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for tissue
PropertyValue
Headwordtissue
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈtɪs.juː/
Letters6
Frequency rank#4,195
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “tissue”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).tissuelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “technologies” (#4,194), “trailer” (#4,196), “suspended” (#4,193). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “tissue” is #4,195. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around tissue (IPA /ˈtɪs.juː/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #4,195 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for tissue, with forms such as "itssue", "tisseu", and "tisue". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "tussle", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English tissu, from Old French tissu (“woven”), past participle of tistre (“to weave”), from Latin texō (“to weave”). The correct English form is tissue, spelled T-I-S-S-U-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Thin, woven, gauze-like fabric.
  2. 2
    A fine transparent silk material, used for veils, etc.; specifically, cloth interwoven with gold or silver threads, or embossed with figures.
  3. 3
    A sheet of absorbent paper, especially one that is made to be used as tissue paper, toilet paper or a handkerchief.
  4. 4
    Absorbent paper as material.
  5. 5
    A group of cells (along with their extracellular matrix if any) that are similar in origin and function together to do a specific job.
  6. 6
    Web; texture; complicated fabrication; connected series.
  7. 7
    The scratch sheet or racing form.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how tissue appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Madame Legarde, the "glass of fashion and the nurse of form," (alias the most fashionable of milliners,) has comfortably assured me, "that my figure has great merit, and only requires cultivation:" this is to be done by tissues, brocades, and laces, which are now scattered round me in charming confusion.
  2. The face which emerged was not reassuring. It was blunt and grey, the nose springing thick and flat from high on the frontal bone of the forehead, whilst his eyes were narrow slits of dark in a tight bandage of tissue.

Etymology

From Middle English tissu, from Old French tissu (“woven”), past participle of tistre (“to weave”), from Latin texō (“to weave”).

This word in other languages

tejido(Español)tissu(Français)Gewebe(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • itssue
  • tisseu
  • tisue
  • tisuse
  • tsisue
  • ttissue

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tissue - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

itssue2tisseu2tisue1tisuse2tsisue2ttissue1
Edit distance from "tissue"

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

How do you spell "tissue"?
"tissue" is spelled T-I-S-S-U-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈtɪs.juː/.
What does "tissue" mean?
As a noun, "tissue" means: Thin, woven, gauze-like fabric.
What words are commonly confused with "tissue"?
"tissue" is commonly confused with "tussle". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "tissue"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tissue" is /ˈtɪs.juː/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "tissue"?
From Middle English tissu, from Old French tissu (“woven”), past participle of tistre (“to weave”), from Latin texō (“to weave”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "tissue", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

trials#4,198versus#4,201purple#4,183boards#4,215

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

rick6 variantschip6 variantsmask6 variantsbang6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list