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cassette

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

8 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "cassette", 8-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "cassette" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "cassette" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

cassette is aEnglishnoun. It means: A small flat case containing magnetic tape on two reels, used to record and play back audio and video material. Pronounced /kəˈsɛt/.

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Key facts for cassette
PropertyValue
Headwordcassette
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kəˈsɛt/
Letters8
Frequency rank#17,097
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of cassette in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for cassette is 8 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kəˈsɛt/. Corpus data places it at rank #17,097 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 8 documented wrong-spelling variants for cassette, with forms such as "acssette", "casestte", and "casette". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kap- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti Proto-Italic *kapjō Proto-Italic *kapsos Latin capsa Old Northern French casse Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Italic *-tosder.? Latin -ittus Old French -ete Mi… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is cassette, spelled C-A-S-S-E-T-T-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A small flat case containing magnetic tape on two reels, used to record and play back audio and video material.
  2. 2
    Any similar small cartridge, such as for a computer disk or cassette air conditioner.
  3. 3
    A lightproof container for photographic film.
  4. 4
    A modular DNA sequence encoding one or more genes for a single biochemical function.
  5. 5
    A set of sprockets mounted onto a splined shaft on the freehub.
  6. 6
    A saggar (ceramic container used in a kiln).

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kap- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti Proto-Italic *kapjō Proto-Italic *kapsos Latin capsa Old Northern French casse Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Italic *-tosder.? Latin -ittus Old French -ete Middle French -ette French cassettebor. English cassette Borrowed from French cassette.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: acssette,casestte,casette,cassete,cassetet,casstete,ccassette,csasette

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for cassette

Misspelling Variants of "cassette"

acssette8casestte8casette7cassete7cassetet8casstete8ccassette9csasette8
Misspelling Variants of "cassette"

Frequency rank: #17,097 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "cassette"?
"cassette" is spelled C-A-S-S-E-T-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /kəˈsɛt/.
What does "cassette" mean?
As a noun, "cassette" means: A small flat case containing magnetic tape on two reels, used to record and play back audio and video material.
What are common misspellings of "cassette"?
Common misspellings include "acssette", "casestte", "casette", "cassete", "cassetet". The correct spelling is "cassette".
How do you pronounce "cassette"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cassette" is /kəˈsɛt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "cassette"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kap- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti Proto-Italic *kapjō Proto-Italic *kapsos Latin capsa Old Northern French casse Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Italic *-tosder.? Latin -ittus Old Fren... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter C in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.