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antique

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

7 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "antique", 7-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "antique" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "antique" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

antique is anEnglishadj. It means: Having existed in ancient times, descended from antiquity; used especially in reference to Greece and Rome. Pronounced /ˌanˈtiːk/. It ranks #8,755 in English word frequency. Often confused with antiques and Antigua.

Key facts for antique
PropertyValue
Headwordantique
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdj
IPA/ˌanˈtiːk/
Letters7
Frequency rank#8,755
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of antique in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for antique is 7 letters long, classified as anadj, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌanˈtiːk/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,755 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for antique, with forms such as "anitque", "anntique", and "antiqeu". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "antiques", "Antigua", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French antique (“ancient, old”), from Latin antiquus (“former, earlier, ancient, old”), from ante (“before”); see ante-. Doublet of antic. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is antique, spelled A-N-T-I-Q-U-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Having existed in ancient times, descended from antiquity; used especially in reference to Greece and Rome.
  2. 2
    Belonging to former times, not modern, out of date, old-fashioned.
  3. 3
    Designating a style of type.
  4. 4
    Embossed without gilt.
  5. 5
    Synonym of old (“of color: subdued, as if faded over time”).
  6. 6
    Synonym of antic, specifically
  7. 7
    Synonym of antic, specifically:

Etymology

Borrowed from French antique (“ancient, old”), from Latin antiquus (“former, earlier, ancient, old”), from ante (“before”); see ante-. Doublet of antic.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: anitque,anntique,antiqeu,antiqque,antiuqe,antqiue,anttique,atnique,natique

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for antique

Misspelling Variants of "antique"

anitque7anntique8antiqeu7antiqque8antiuqe7antqiue7anttique8atnique7
Misspelling Variants of "antique"

Frequency rank: #8,755 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "antique"?
"antique" is spelled A-N-T-I-Q-U-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌanˈtiːk/.
What does "antique" mean?
As an adj, "antique" means: Having existed in ancient times, descended from antiquity; used especially in reference to Greece and Rome.
What words are commonly confused with "antique"?
"antique" is commonly confused with "antiques", "Antigua". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "antique"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "antique" is /ˌanˈtiːk/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "antique"?
Borrowed from French antique (“ancient, old”), from Latin antiquus (“former, earlier, ancient, old”), from ante (“before”); see ante-. Doublet of antic. 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter A in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.