archangel
/ɑː(ɹ)ˈkeɪn.d͡ʒəl/
"archangel" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“archangel” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #29,542 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #29,542
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 14
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A powerful angel that leads many other angels, but is still loyal to a deity, and often seen as belonging to a particular archangelical rank or order within a greater hierarchy of angels. (Judeo-Ch...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | archangel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɑː(ɹ)ˈkeɪn.d͡ʒəl/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #29,542 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “archangel” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for archangel is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɑː(ɹ)ˈkeɪn.d͡ʒəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #29,542 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for archangel, with forms such as "acrhangel", "arcahngel", and "arcchangel". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English archangel, from Old French archangele, from Latin archangelus, from Ancient Greek ἀρχάγγελος (arkhángelos) from Ancient Greek prefix ἀρχι- (arkhi-) + ἄγγελος (ángelos, “messenger”). By surface analysis, arch- + angel. The correct English form is archangel, spelled A-R-C-H-A-N-G-E-L.
Definition
- 1A powerful angel that leads many other angels, but is still loyal to a deity, and often seen as belonging to a particular archangelical rank or order within a greater hierarchy of angels. (Judeo-Christian examples: Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, Uriel).
- 2Synonym of angelica (“the garden herb”).
Etymology
From Middle English archangel, from Old French archangele, from Latin archangelus, from Ancient Greek ἀρχάγγελος (arkhángelos) from Ancient Greek prefix ἀρχι- (arkhi-) + ἄγγελος (ángelos, “messenger”). By surface analysis, arch- + angel.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: acrhangel,arcahngel,arcchangel,archagnel,archanegl,archangell,archanggel,archangle,archanngel,archhangel,archnagel,arhcangel,arrchangel,rachangel
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of archangel - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "archangel"?
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Using “archangel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-R-C-H-A-N-G-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɑː(ɹ)ˈkeɪn.d͡ʒəl/ (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.