violet
/ˈvaɪ.ə.lət/
"violet" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“violet” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #9,126 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #9,126
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 10
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A plant or flower of the genus Viola, especially the fragrant Viola odorata; (inexact) similar-looking plants and flowers.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | violet |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈvaɪ.ə.lət/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #9,126 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “violet” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for violet is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈvaɪ.ə.lət/. Corpus data places it at rank #9,126 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for violet, with forms such as "ivolet", "viloet", and "vioelt". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 10 confusable-pair relationships, "volt", "vole", "violin", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Latin viola Old French -ette Old French violettebor. Middle English violet English violet Inherited from Middle English violet, vyolet, vyolette, from Old French violette, from Latin viola (“violet”) + -ette. Cognate with Lithuanian violetinė… The correct English form is violet, spelled V-I-O-L-E-T.
Definition
- 1A plant or flower of the genus Viola, especially the fragrant Viola odorata; (inexact) similar-looking plants and flowers.
- 2A person thought to resemble V. odorata, especially in its beauty and delicacy.
- 3The color of most violets; the colour evoked by the shortest visible wavelengths between 380 and 435 nm, an additive tertiary colour.
- 4Clothes and (ecclesiastical) vestments of such a colour.
- 5The characteristic scent of V. odorata.
- 6Synonym of onion (“vegetable”).
Etymology
Etymology tree Latin viola Old French -ette Old French violettebor. Middle English violet English violet Inherited from Middle English violet, vyolet, vyolette, from Old French violette, from Latin viola (“violet”) + -ette. Cognate with Lithuanian violetinė (“purple, violet”) and Spanish violeta (“purple, violet”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ivolet,viloet,vioelt,violett,viollet,violte,voilet,vviolet
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of violet - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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
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Using “violet”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is V-I-O-L-E-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈvaɪ.ə.lət/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “volt” - see the side-by-side comparison. violet vs volt
- 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.