Candlemas
/ˈkæn.dəl.məs/
"candlemas" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Candlemas” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The festival in the Christian year celebrated on February 2nd. It commemorates the purification of the Virgin Mary and the presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple.
Corpus desk
Index EN-candlemas · Candlemas · English
Candlemas · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" 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 | Candlemas |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkæn.dəl.məs/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “Candlemas” in English
Rare enough to double-check
Candlemas is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkæn.dəl.məs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for Candlemas, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English Candelmasse, from Old English Candelmæsse, equivalent to candle + -mas, following the tradition that the candles to be used in church during the following year are blessed on this day. Compare Old Norse kyndilsmessa (“Candlemas”). The correct English form is Candlemas, spelled C-A-N-D-L-E-M-A-S.
Definition
- 1The festival in the Christian year celebrated on February 2nd. It commemorates the purification of the Virgin Mary and the presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple.
- 2A quarter day in Scotland.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how Candlemas appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
To make Capons […] [S]ome for this Purpoſe make it their Buſineſs after Harveſt-time to go to Markets for buying up Chickens, and between Michaelmas and All-hollantide caponize the Cocks, when they have got large enough to have Stones [i.e., testes] of ſuch a Bigneſs that they may be pulled out; for if they are too little, it can't be done; […] [M]aking a…
They held high holiday from Christmas-day until Candlemas (February 2nd ), […]
Etymology
From Middle English Candelmasse, from Old English Candelmæsse, equivalent to candle + -mas, following the tradition that the candles to be used in church during the following year are blessed on this day. Compare Old Norse kyndilsmessa (“Candlemas”).
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.