antediluvian
/ˌæn.tɪ.dɪˈluː.vɪ.ən/
"antediluvian" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“antediluvian” is an uncommon English word, ranked #86,013 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #86,013
- frequency rank, English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Belonging or pertaining to, or existing in, the time prior to the great flood described in Genesis, or (by extension) to a great or destructive flood or deluge described in other mythologies.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | antediluvian |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˌæn.tɪ.dɪˈluː.vɪ.ən/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Frequency rank | #86,013 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “antediluvian” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for antediluvian is 12 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌæn.tɪ.dɪˈluː.vɪ.ən/. Corpus data places it at rank #86,013 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for antediluvian, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *dwís From ante- (prefix meaning ‘prior to in time’) + Latin dīluvium (“a flood”) + -an (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives; and forming agent nouns), referring the story of Noah’s Ark, through which God rescues Noah, his fami… The correct English form is antediluvian, spelled A-N-T-E-D-I-L-U-V-I-A-N.
Definition
- 1Belonging or pertaining to, or existing in, the time prior to the great flood described in Genesis, or (by extension) to a great or destructive flood or deluge described in other mythologies.
- 2Of animals and plants: long extinct; prehistoric.
- 3Of a person or thing: very old; ancient.
- 4Of attitudes, ideas, etc.: extremely old-fashioned, especially to a laughable extent; antiquated.
Etymology
PIE word *dwís From ante- (prefix meaning ‘prior to in time’) + Latin dīluvium (“a flood”) + -an (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives; and forming agent nouns), referring the story of Noah’s Ark, through which God rescues Noah, his family, and examples of all the world’s animals from the great flood, which is related in Genesis 6–9 of the Bible. Dīluvium is derived from dīluō (“to wash away”) (from dis- (prefix meaning ‘apart, asunder, in two’) + lavō (“to wash”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- (“to wash”))) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns). The English word is analyzable as ante- + diluvian. Adjective sense 2 (“long extinct”) is from the fact that such animals and plants were originally believed to have perished in the biblical flood referred to above.
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
How do you spell "antediluvian"?
What does "antediluvian" mean?
How do you pronounce "antediluvian"?
What is the origin of the word "antediluvian"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “antediluvian”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-N-T-E-D-I-L-U-V-I-A-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌæn.tɪ.dɪˈluː.vɪ.ən/ (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
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.