abbess
/ˈæb.ɪs/
"abbess" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“abbess” is uncommon English (frequency #52,748 among 35,202 “A” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #52,748
- frequency rank, English
- 35,202
- “A” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A female superior or governess of a nunnery, or convent of nuns, having the same authority over the nuns which the abbots have over the monks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | abbess |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈæb.ɪs/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #52,748 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “abbess” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
abbess is uncommon English at frequency #52,748 among 35,202 “A” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈæb.ɪs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for abbess, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English abbesse, from Old French abeesse (French abbesse), from Late Latin or Ecclesiastical Latin abbatissa, feminine of Latin abbas, abbatis (“abbot”). The correct English form is abbess, spelled A-B-B-E-S-S.
Definition
- 1A female superior or governess of a nunnery, or convent of nuns, having the same authority over the nuns which the abbots have over the monks.
- 2A woman who runs a brothel; a woman employed by a prostitute to find clients.
Etymology
From Middle English abbesse, from Old French abeesse (French abbesse), from Late Latin or Ecclesiastical Latin abbatissa, feminine of Latin abbas, abbatis (“abbot”).
Synonyms
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
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Using “abbess”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-B-B-E-S-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈæb.ɪs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.