abidance
/əˈbaɪd.n̩s/
"abidance" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“abidance” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The act of abiding or continuing; abode; stay; continuance; dwelling.
Corpus desk
Index EN-abidance · abidance · English
abidance · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "A" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | abidance |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /əˈbaɪd.n̩s/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “abidance” in English
Rare enough to double-check
abidance is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /əˈbaɪd.n̩s/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
abidance has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English abiden, from Old English ābīdan (“wait”), from ā + bīdan (“to bide, remain”) + ance. * abide + -ance. The correct English form is abidance, spelled A-B-I-D-A-N-C-E.
Definition
- 1The act of abiding or continuing; abode; stay; continuance; dwelling.
- 2Adherence; compliance; conformity.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how abidance appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
No wonder then, though the Christians had no longer abidance in the holy hill of Palestine (though this I confess, is but the bark of the text), driving that trade wherewith none ever thrived, the breaking of promises; wherewith one may for a way fairly spread his train, but he will moult his feathers soon after.
A judicious abidance by rules, and holding to the results of experience, are good; but not less so, are a judicious setting aside of rules, and a declining to be bound by incomplete experience.
Etymology
From Middle English abiden, from Old English ābīdan (“wait”), from ā + bīdan (“to bide, remain”) + ance. * abide + -ance.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.