urethane

noun

"urethane" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“urethane” is uncommon English (frequency #59,096 among 1,433 “U” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#59,096
frequency rank, English
1,433
“U” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A white crystalline organic compound, ethyl-carbamate, NH₂COOC₂H₅, used in the synthesis of other organic compounds.

Corpus desk

Index EN-urethane · urethane · English

urethane · rank #59,096 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #59,096
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,433
  • PHOTO-FINISH unforced

Nearest frequency peer: unforced (-2 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.

Long-tail ranks near “urethane”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “urethane” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for urethane
PropertyValue
Headwordurethane
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Frequency rank#59,096
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “urethane” in English

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).urethanefalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “unforced” (#59,094), “unchangeable” (#59,093), “Valletta” (#59,099). Among 1,433 “U” headwords, “urethane” is #59,096. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

urethane is uncommon English at frequency #59,096 among 1,433 “U” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for urethane in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French uréthane, coined (1833) by Jean Baptiste Dumas. The correct English form is urethane, spelled U-R-E-T-H-A-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A white crystalline organic compound, ethyl-carbamate, NH₂COOC₂H₅, used in the synthesis of other organic compounds.
  2. 2
    Any compound consisting of this general structure.
  3. 3
    Polyurethane.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. He doesn’t remember polishing off the bottle of slivovitz that stands empty on the scratched urethane surface of the oak-veneer tabletop, next to the wing chair.

Etymology

From French uréthane, coined (1833) by Jean Baptiste Dumas.

Synonyms

ethyl carbamate

This word in other languages

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 "urethane"?
"urethane" is spelled U-R-E-T-H-A-N-E.
What does "urethane" mean?
As a noun, "urethane" means: A white crystalline organic compound, ethyl-carbamate, NH₂COOC₂H₅, used in the synthesis of other organic compounds.
What is the origin of the word "urethane"?
From French uréthane, coined (1833) by Jean Baptiste Dumas. 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 "urethane", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list