tolerance

/ˈtɒl.ə.ɹəns/

//ˈtɒl.ə.ɹəns// noun

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

"tolerance" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tolerance” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,530. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,530
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The ability to endure pain or hardship; endurance.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tolerance · tolerance · English

tolerance · rank #6,530 · 14 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,530
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH temporarily

Nearest frequency peer: temporarily (-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 “tolerance”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “tolerance” 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).

tolerance vs tolerate
78% similar
tolerance vs tolerant
78% similar
tolerance vs tolerances
90% similar

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

Key facts for tolerance
PropertyValue
Headwordtolerance
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈtɒl.ə.ɹəns/
Letters9
Frequency rank#6,530
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “tolerance”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).tolerancelands 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 “temporarily” (#6,529), “technological” (#6,528), “traditionally” (#6,532). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “tolerance” is #6,530. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around tolerance (IPA /ˈtɒl.ə.ɹəns/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #6,530 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for tolerance, with forms such as "otlerance", "tloerance", and "toelrance". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "tolerate", "tolerant", "tolerances", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English toleraunce, borrowed from Old French tolerance, from Latin tolerantia (“endurance”), from tolerāns, present participle of, and participial adjective from Latin tolerō (“to endure”). The correct English form is tolerance, spelled T-O-L-E-R-A-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The ability to endure pain or hardship; endurance.
  2. 2
    The ability or practice of tolerating; an acceptance of or patience with the beliefs, opinions or practices of others; a lack of bigotry.
  3. 3
    The ability of the body (or other organism) to resist the action of a poison, to cope with a dangerous drug or to survive infection by an organism.
  4. 4
    The variation or deviation from a standard, especially the maximum permitted variation in an engineering measurement.
  5. 5
    The ability of the body to accept a tissue graft without rejection.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Both [Ze'ev] Jabotinsky and [David] Ben-Gurion also wrote songs of praise to the Ottoman Empire, its tolerance toward ethnic minorities in general — and to Jews in particular — as well as to the democratic changes it was undergoing.
  2. Our customers can generally accept ten times the tolerance which we can achieve in our machining operations.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English toleraunce, borrowed from Old French tolerance, from Latin tolerantia (“endurance”), from tolerāns, present participle of, and participial adjective from Latin tolerō (“to endure”).

Antonyms

intolerance

This word in other languages

tolerancia(Español)tolérance(Français)Toleranz(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • otlerance
  • tloerance
  • toelrance
  • tolearnce
  • toleracne
  • tolerancce
  • toleranec
  • tolerannce
  • tolerence
  • tolernace
  • tolerrance
  • tollerance
  • tolreance
  • ttolerance

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

otlerance2tloerance2toelrance2tolearnce2toleracne2tolerancce1toleranec2tolerannce1
Edit distance from "tolerance"

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 "tolerance"?
"tolerance" is spelled T-O-L-E-R-A-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈtɒl.ə.ɹəns/.
What does "tolerance" mean?
As a noun, "tolerance" means: The ability to endure pain or hardship; endurance.
What words are commonly confused with "tolerance"?
"tolerance" is commonly confused with "tolerate", "tolerant", "tolerances". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "tolerance"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tolerance" is /ˈtɒl.ə.ɹəns/. 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 "tolerance"?
Inherited from Middle English toleraunce, borrowed from Old French tolerance, from Latin tolerantia (“endurance”), from tolerāns, present participle of, and participial adjective from Latin tolerō (“to endure”). 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 "tolerance", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

switching#6,527specified#6,522belonging#6,545qualities#6,509

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

accomplish14 variantsnortheast14 variantsinstances14 variantsexploring14 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list