to all intents and purposes
"to-all-intents-and-purposes" is a 23-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“to all intents and purposes” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a prep_phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 27
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - For every functional purpose; in every practical sense; in every important respect; practically speaking.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | to all intents and purposes |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Prep_phrase |
| Letters | 27 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “to all intents and purposes” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
to all intents and purposes is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aprep_phrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "For every functional purpose; in every practical sense; in every important respect; practically speaking.".
Zero misspellings are on record for to all intents and purposes in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: 1500s, English law, originally “to all intents, constructions, and purposes” (found in an act adopted under Henry VIII in 1547). The correct English form is to all intents and purposes, spelled T-O- -A-L-L- -I-N-T-E-N-T-S- -A-N-D- -P-U-R-P-O-S-E-S.
Definition
- 1For every functional purpose; in every practical sense; in every important respect; practically speaking.
Etymology
1500s, English law, originally “to all intents, constructions, and purposes” (found in an act adopted under Henry VIII in 1547).
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “to all intents and purposes”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-O- -A-L-L- -I-N-T-E-N-T-S- -A-N-D- -P-U-R-P-O-S-E-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.