adelphic

adj

"adelphic" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“adelphic” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. 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) - Describing a form of polyandry in which a woman is married to two or more brothers

Corpus desk

Index EN-adelphic · adelphic · English

adelphic · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 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.

Key facts for adelphic
PropertyValue
Headwordadelphic
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “adelphic” in English

adelphicsits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

adelphic is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

adelphic doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀδελφικός (adelphikós, “brotherly”), from ἀδελφός (adelphós, “brother”). By surface analysis, adelpho- + -ic. The correct English form is adelphic, spelled A-D-E-L-P-H-I-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    Describing a form of polyandry in which a woman is married to two or more brothers
  2. 2
    fraternal

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀδελφικός (adelphikós, “brotherly”), from ἀδελφός (adelphós, “brother”). By surface analysis, adelpho- + -ic.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "adelphic"?
"adelphic" is spelled A-D-E-L-P-H-I-C.
What does "adelphic" mean?
As an adjective, "adelphic" means: Describing a form of polyandry in which a woman is married to two or more brothers
What is the origin of the word "adelphic"?
Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀδελφικός (adelphikós, “brotherly”), from ἀδελφός (adelphós, “brother”). By surface analysis, adelpho- + -ic. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list