ankh
/æŋk/
"ankh" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ankh” is uncommon English (frequency #61,267 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #61,267
- frequency rank, English
- 3,931
- “A” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A cross shaped like a T with a loop at the top, the Egyptian hieroglyph representing the Egyptian triliteral ꜥnḫ (“life”) and often used as an amulet or charm for this concept.
Corpus desk
Index EN-ankh · ankh · English
ankh · rank #61,267 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #61,267
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,931
- PHOTO-FINISH anisotropy
Nearest frequency peer: anisotropy (-1 rank slots)
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.
Long-tail ranks near “ankh”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Amrita
Amrita
38,739 corpus weight
- amyotrophic
amyotrophic
38,738 corpus weight
- analgesia
analgesia
38,736 corpus weight
- anisotropy
anisotropy
38,735 corpus weight
- ankh
ankh
38,734 corpus weight
- Appomattox
Appomattox
38,731 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “ankh” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ankh |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /æŋk/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #61,267 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “ankh” in English
Rare enough to double-check
ankh is uncommon English at frequency #61,267 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /æŋk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for ankh in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Egyptian anx-Z1 (ꜥnḫ, “life, to live, symbol for life”). The correct English form is ankh, spelled A-N-K-H.
Definition
- 1A cross shaped like a T with a loop at the top, the Egyptian hieroglyph representing the Egyptian triliteral ꜥnḫ (“life”) and often used as an amulet or charm for this concept.
- 2A tau cross.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how ankh appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
On temple wall paintings, the ankh is often seen being carried by gods who hold it up to the nose of the pharaoh. This gesture symbolizes the offering of the "breath of life" or eternity. Sometimes the pharaoh is also depicted with a stream of water in the form of ankhs being poured over him during a purification ritual.
The ankh combines the male and female sexual symbols: a female oval surmounting a male cross. It was also called the Key of the Nile, and was said to represent the sacred marriage between the God and Goddess which took place each year at the source of the Nile before the river flooded. Egyptians regarded the ankh as a universal life charm.
Etymology
From Egyptian anx-Z1 (ꜥnḫ, “life, to live, symbol for life”).
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ankh", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).