apse

/æps/

//æps// noun

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

"apse" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“apse” is uncommon English (frequency #63,423 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#63,423
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The rounded east end of a church that contains or is behind the altar.

Corpus desk

Index EN-apse · apse · English

apse · rank #63,423 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #63,423
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH approvingly

Nearest frequency peer: approvingly (-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 “apse”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “apse” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for apse
PropertyValue
Headwordapse
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/æps/
Letters4
Frequency rank#63,423
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “apse” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).apsefalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “approvingly” (#63,422), “arboreal” (#63,424), “ardor” (#63,425). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “apse” is #63,423. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

apse is uncommon English at frequency #63,423 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /æps/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 6 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for apse, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin apsis, hapsis, from Ancient Greek ἁψίς (hapsís, “arch, vault”), from ἅπτω (háptō, “I bind, join”). The correct English form is apse, spelled A-P-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The rounded east end of a church that contains or is behind the altar.
  2. 2
    The rounded east end of a church that contains or is behind the altar.
  3. 3
    A semicircular projection from any building that is similar to a church's apse.
  4. 4
    The bishop's seat or throne in ancient churches.
  5. 5
    A reliquary: a case in which the relics of saints are kept.
  6. 6
    Obsolete form of apsis (“the nearest and furthest points to the centre of gravitational attraction for a body in orbit”).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Holonyms: church, cathedral
  2. Meronyms: ambulatory, apse chapels

Etymology

From Latin apsis, hapsis, from Ancient Greek ἁψίς (hapsís, “arch, vault”), from ἅπτω (háptō, “I bind, join”).

This word in other languages

ábside(Español)abside(Français)Apsis(Deutsch)abside(Português)

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 "apse"?
"apse" is spelled A-P-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is /æps/.
What does "apse" mean?
As a noun, "apse" means: The rounded east end of a church that contains or is behind the altar.
How do you pronounce "apse"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "apse" is /æps/. 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 "apse"?
From Latin apsis, hapsis, from Ancient Greek ἁψίς (hapsís, “arch, vault”), from ἅπτω (háptō, “I bind, join”). 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 "apse", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ASIN#63,428acai#63,401Abad#63,400Bett#63,455

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list