by heart
/baɪ ˈhɑːt/
"by-heart" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“by heart” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a prep_phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - From unaided memory and in full detail.
Corpus desk
Index EN-by-heart · by heart · English
by heart · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "B" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | by heart |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Prep_phrase |
| IPA | /baɪ ˈhɑːt/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “by heart” in English
Rare enough to double-check
by heart is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aprep_phrase, transcribed /baɪ ˈhɑːt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "From unaided memory and in full detail.".
Zero misspellings are on record for by heart in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English by herte. Compare French par cœur (literally “by heart”), of which the English may be a calque. The correct English form is by heart, spelled B-Y- -H-E-A-R-T.
Definition
- 1From unaided memory and in full detail.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how by heart appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
to learn something by heart
to know something by heart
Etymology
From Middle English by herte. Compare French par cœur (literally “by heart”), of which the English may be a calque.
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.