cantata
/kənˈtɑːtə/
"cantata" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cantata” is uncommon English (frequency #56,650 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #56,650
- frequency rank, English
- 43,570
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A vocal composition accompanied by instruments and generally containing more than one movement, typical of 17th and 18th century Italian music.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cantata |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kənˈtɑːtə/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #56,650 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cantata” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
cantata is uncommon English at frequency #56,650 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /kənˈtɑːtə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A vocal composition accompanied by instruments and generally containing more than one movement, typical of 17th and 18th century Italian music.".
cantata doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Italian cantata. Doublet of chanty. The correct English form is cantata, spelled C-A-N-T-A-T-A.
Definition
- 1A vocal composition accompanied by instruments and generally containing more than one movement, typical of 17th and 18th century Italian music.
Etymology
From Italian cantata. Doublet of chanty.
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); 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
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Using “cantata”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-A-N-T-A-T-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kənˈtɑːtə/ (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
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.