cap'n
/ˈkæpn̩/
"cap-n" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cap'n” is uncommon English (frequency #52,207 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #52,207
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Contraction of captain used as a title.
Corpus desk
Index EN-cap-n · cap'n · English
cap'n · rank #52,207 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #52,207
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH campy
Nearest frequency peer: campy (-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 “cap'n”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- cag
cag
47,797 corpus weight
- Cammy
Cammy
47,796 corpus weight
- campy
campy
47,795 corpus weight
- cap'n
cap'n
47,794 corpus weight
- caressed
caressed
47,793 corpus weight
- caseload
caseload
47,791 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “cap'n” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cap'n |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkæpn̩/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #52,207 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “cap'n” in English
Rare enough to double-check
cap'n is uncommon English at frequency #52,207 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkæpn̩/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Contraction of captain used as a title.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for cap'n, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is cap'n, spelled C-A-P-'-N.
Definition
- 1Contraction of captain used as a title.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how cap'n appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Aye aye, cap'n!
“Uh, I think we should do, uh, what you want to do, Cap'n. Cap'n's choice.” “I'm not asking you to kiss my ass. Come on. No wrong answers.” “Uh, okay. We could do evasive maneuver eighty... eight...?” “Is he (bleep)ing serious?” “That was the wrong answer!” “I meant 84.” “In this situation? Are you crazy?” “Mariner!” “Have you not been paying attention? T…
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "cap'n", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).