according to
"according-to" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“according to” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a preposition. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Based on what is said or stated by; on the authority of; by the order of.
Corpus desk
Index EN-according-to · according to · English
according to · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 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 | according to |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Preposition |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “according to” in English
Rare enough to double-check
according to is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as apreposition. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for according to in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is according to, spelled A-C-C-O-R-D-I-N-G- -T-O.
Definition
- 1Based on what is said or stated by; on the authority of; by the order of.
- 2In a manner conforming or corresponding to; in proportion to; in accordance with.
- 3Depending on.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how according to appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
According to the directions, the glue takes 24 hours to dry.
According to Captain Smith, we are not to spend more than 20 minutes on this task.
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.