volunteer
/ˌvɒl(ə)nˈtɪə/
"volunteer" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“volunteer” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #4,501 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #4,501
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - One who enters into, or offers themselves for, any service of their own free will, especially when done without pay.
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 | volunteer |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌvɒl(ə)nˈtɪə/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #4,501 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “volunteer” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for volunteer is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌvɒl(ə)nˈtɪə/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,501 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 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for volunteer, with forms such as "ovlunteer", "vlounteer", and "vollunteer". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "volunteers", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French voluntaire, from Latin voluntārius (“willing, voluntary”); or from voluntary + -eer. The correct English form is volunteer, spelled V-O-L-U-N-T-E-E-R.
Definition
- 1One who enters into, or offers themselves for, any service of their own free will, especially when done without pay.
- 2One who enters into military service voluntarily (but who, when in service, is subject to discipline and regulations like other soldiers), as opposed to a conscript.
- 3A voluntary member of the organized militia of a country, as distinguished from a regular or member of the standing army.
- 4A person who acts out of their own will without a legal obligation, such as a donor.
- 5A plant that grows spontaneously, without being cultivated on purpose; see volunteer plant in Wikipedia.
- 6A native or resident of the American state of Tennessee.
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French voluntaire, from Latin voluntārius (“willing, voluntary”); or from voluntary + -eer.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ovlunteer,vlounteer,vollunteer,volnuteer,voluneter,volunnteer,volunteerr,volunter,voluntere,voluntteer,volutneer,voulnteer,vvolunteer
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of volunteer - 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
How do you spell "volunteer"?
What does "volunteer" mean?
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Using “volunteer”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is V-O-L-U-N-T-E-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌvɒl(ə)nˈtɪə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “volunteers” - see the side-by-side comparison. volunteer vs volunteers
- 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.