carapace
/ˈkæ.ɹəˌpeɪs/
"carapace" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“carapace” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #45,254 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #45,254
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A hard protective covering of bone or chitin, especially one which covers the dorsal portion of an animal.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | carapace |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkæ.ɹəˌpeɪs/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #45,254 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “carapace” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for carapace is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkæ.ɹəˌpeɪs/. Corpus data places it at rank #45,254 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 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for carapace, with forms such as "acrapace", "caarpace", and "caraapce". 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. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French carapace (“tortoise shell”), from Spanish carapacho, of unknown origin, but likely from an extinct Ibero-Mediterranean substrate language. Compare Catalan carabassa, Ancient Greek κάραβος (kárabos, “beetle”), Latin scarabaeus (the sourc… The correct English form is carapace, spelled C-A-R-A-P-A-C-E.
Definition
- 1A hard protective covering of bone or chitin, especially one which covers the dorsal portion of an animal.
- 2That which protects.
Etymology
Borrowed from French carapace (“tortoise shell”), from Spanish carapacho, of unknown origin, but likely from an extinct Ibero-Mediterranean substrate language. Compare Catalan carabassa, Ancient Greek κάραβος (kárabos, “beetle”), Latin scarabaeus (the source of scarab); also Spanish galápago (“kind of turtle”). Doublet of calipash.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: acrapace,caarpace,caraapce,carapacce,carapaec,carapcae,carappace,carpaace,carrapace,ccarapace,craapace
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of carapace - 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 "carapace"?
What does "carapace" mean?
What are common misspellings of "carapace"?
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Using “carapace”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-A-R-A-P-A-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkæ.ɹəˌpeɪs/ (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.