tuberculosis

/tʃuːˌbɜː(ɹ)kjʊˈləʊsɪs/

//tʃuːˌbɜː(ɹ)kjʊˈləʊsɪs// noun

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

"tuberculosis" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tuberculosis” has 18 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #13,443. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#13,443
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords
18
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An infectious disease of humans and animals caused by a species of mycobacterium, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis, mainly infecting the lungs where it causes tubercles characterized by the expec...

Corpus desk

Index EN-tuberculosis · tuberculosis · English

tuberculosis · rank #13,443 · 18 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #13,443
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 18 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH trumpet

Nearest frequency peer: trumpet (-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 “tuberculosis”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “tuberculosis” 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
Key facts for tuberculosis
PropertyValue
Headwordtuberculosis
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/tʃuːˌbɜː(ɹ)kjʊˈləʊsɪs/
Letters12
Frequency rank#13,443
Misspellings tracked18
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “tuberculosis”

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).tuberculosislands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “trumpet” (#13,442), “UKIP” (#13,444), “toxicity” (#13,441). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “tuberculosis” is #13,443. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 18 spelling variants around tuberculosis (IPA /tʃuːˌbɜː(ɹ)kjʊˈləʊsɪs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #13,443 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Dominant gloss: "An infectious disease of humans and animals caused by a species of mycobacterium, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis, mainly infecting the lungs where it causes tubercles characterized by the expec...".

Our generated misspelling index lists 18 likely wrong-spelling variants for tuberculosis, with forms such as "tbuerculosis", "ttuberculosis", and "tubberculosis". 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. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: To international scientific vocabulary from New Latin tūberculōsis, from Latin tūberculum (diminutive of tūber (“lump”)) + Latin -ōsis (“diseased condition”); by surface analysis, tubercul(um) + -osis; named for the encapsulated colonies of Mycobacterium tu… The correct English form is tuberculosis, spelled T-U-B-E-R-C-U-L-O-S-I-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    An infectious disease of humans and animals caused by a species of mycobacterium, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis, mainly infecting the lungs where it causes tubercles characterized by the expectoration of mucus and sputum, fever, weight loss, and chest pain, and transmitted through inhalation or ingestion of bacteria.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. With smallpox gone, tuberculosis is today the deadliest infectious disease on the planet.

Etymology

To international scientific vocabulary from New Latin tūberculōsis, from Latin tūberculum (diminutive of tūber (“lump”)) + Latin -ōsis (“diseased condition”); by surface analysis, tubercul(um) + -osis; named for the encapsulated colonies of Mycobacterium tuberculosis within the lungs in pulmonary tuberculosis, which can look like small tubers (tubercles) on gross pathology. The disease has existed throughout human experience and had other names for millennia before scientific medicine renamed it with a New Latin term in the mid-19th century (1840s); in English it was called consumption because of the wasting away that consumed health and seemed even to consume flesh in some cases (for example, causing fistulas and tissue breakdown).

Synonyms

consumptionphthisicTBwhite deathwhite man's plaguewhite plague

This word in other languages

tuberculosis(Español)tuberculose(Français)Tuberkulose(Deutsch)tuberculose(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • tbuerculosis
  • ttuberculosis
  • tubberculosis
  • tubecrulosis
  • tubercculosis
  • tubercluosis
  • tubercullosis
  • tuberculoiss
  • tuberculosiss
  • tuberculossi
  • tuberculossis
  • tuberculsois
  • tubercuolsis
  • tuberrculosis
  • tuberuclosis
  • tubreculosis
  • tuebrculosis
  • utberculosis

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

tbuerculosis2ttuberculosis1tubberculosis1tubecrulosis2tubercculosis1tubercluosis2tubercullosis1tuberculoiss2
Edit distance from "tuberculosis"

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 "tuberculosis"?
"tuberculosis" is spelled T-U-B-E-R-C-U-L-O-S-I-S. The IPA pronunciation is /tʃuːˌbɜː(ɹ)kjʊˈləʊsɪs/.
What does "tuberculosis" mean?
As a noun, "tuberculosis" means: An infectious disease of humans and animals caused by a species of mycobacterium, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis, mainly infecting the lungs where it causes tubercles characterized by the expec...
What are common misspellings of "tuberculosis"?
Common misspellings include "tbuerculosis", "ttuberculosis", "tubberculosis", "tubecrulosis", "tubercculosis". The correct spelling is "tuberculosis".
How do you pronounce "tuberculosis"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tuberculosis" is /tʃuːˌbɜː(ɹ)kjʊˈləʊsɪs/. 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 "tuberculosis"?
To international scientific vocabulary from New Latin tūberculōsis, from Latin tūberculum (diminutive of tūber (“lump”)) + Latin -ōsis (“diseased condition”); by surface analysis, tubercul(um) + -osis; named for the encapsulated colonies of Mycoba... 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 "tuberculosis", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 12 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

inauguration#13,536distributing#13,323conveniently#13,314catastrophic#13,294

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (18 here; floor ≥5).

handwriting18 variantsresemblance18 variantsinterrogation18 variantscoordinating18 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list