apothecary

/əˈpɒθəkəɹi/

//əˈpɒθəkəɹi// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"apothecary" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“apothecary” has 15 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #39,680. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#39,680
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
15
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Synonym of pharmacist: a person who sells medicine, especially (historical) one who made and sold their own medicines in the medieval or early modern eras.

Corpus desk

Index EN-apothecary · apothecary · English

apothecary · rank #39,680 · 15 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #39,680
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH Andaman

Nearest frequency peer: Andaman (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “apothecary”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “apothecary” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for apothecary
PropertyValue
Headwordapothecary
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/əˈpɒθəkəɹi/
Letters10
Frequency rank#39,680
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “apothecary”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).apothecarylands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “Andaman” (#39,679), “Amritsar” (#39,678), “amicus” (#39,677). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “apothecary” is #39,680. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around apothecary (IPA /əˈpɒθəkəɹi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #39,680 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for apothecary, with forms such as "aopthecary", "apohtecary", and "apotehcary". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Old French apotecaire (whence French apothicaire), from Medieval Latin apothecarius (“storekeeper”), from Latin apotheca (“(originally) repository, storehouse, warehouse; (later) shop, store”), from Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (apothḗkē, “a repository, store… The correct English form is apothecary, spelled A-P-O-T-H-E-C-A-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Synonym of pharmacist: a person who sells medicine, especially (historical) one who made and sold their own medicines in the medieval or early modern eras.
  2. 2
    Synonym of pharmacy: an apothecary's shop, a drugstore.
  3. 3
    A glass jar of the sort once used for storing medicine.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how apothecary appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. [T]he poticaries and barbarus wryters call it [the iris] Irios in the genetiue caſe.
  2. O true Appothecarie! / Thy drugs are quicke. Thus with a kiſſe I die.

Etymology

From Old French apotecaire (whence French apothicaire), from Medieval Latin apothecarius (“storekeeper”), from Latin apotheca (“(originally) repository, storehouse, warehouse; (later) shop, store”), from Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (apothḗkē, “a repository, storehouse”), from ἀπό (apó, “away”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put”), literally “a place where things are put away”. Doublet of boutique and bodega.

This word in other languages

boticario(Español)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • aopthecary
  • apohtecary
  • apotehcary
  • apothceary
  • apotheacry
  • apothecarry
  • apothecaryy
  • apothecayr
  • apotheccary
  • apothecray
  • apothhecary
  • apotthecary
  • appothecary
  • aptohecary
  • paothecary

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of apothecary - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

aopthecary2apohtecary2apotehcary2apothceary2apotheacry2apothecarry1apothecaryy1apothecayr2
Edit distance from "apothecary"

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 "apothecary"?
"apothecary" is spelled A-P-O-T-H-E-C-A-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈpɒθəkəɹi/.
What does "apothecary" mean?
As a noun, "apothecary" means: Synonym of pharmacist: a person who sells medicine, especially (historical) one who made and sold their own medicines in the medieval or early modern eras.
What are common misspellings of "apothecary"?
Common misspellings include "aopthecary", "apohtecary", "apotehcary", "apothceary", "apotheacry". The correct spelling is "apothecary".
How do you pronounce "apothecary"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "apothecary" is /əˈpɒθəkəɹi/. 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 "apothecary"?
From Old French apotecaire (whence French apothicaire), from Medieval Latin apothecarius (“storekeeper”), from Latin apotheca (“(originally) repository, storehouse, warehouse; (later) shop, store”), from Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (apothḗkē, “a reposit... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "apothecary", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Bainbridge#39,693Blackadder#39,707understudy#39,624tripartite#39,618

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

Wehrmacht15 variantsconceiving15 variantssovereigns15 variantssnowmobile15 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list