catacomb
/ˈkætəkuːm/
"catacomb" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“catacomb” is uncommon English (frequency #87,121 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #87,121
- frequency rank, English
- 43,570
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An underground system of tunnels and chambers with recesses for graves, used (in former times) as a cemetery; a tunnel system used for burying the dead, as in Paris or Ancient Rome.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | catacomb |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkætəkuːm/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #87,121 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “catacomb” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
catacomb is uncommon English at frequency #87,121 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkætəkuːm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An underground system of tunnels and chambers with recesses for graves, used (in former times) as a cemetery; a tunnel system used for burying the dead, as in Paris or Ancient Rome.".
catacomb has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English catacombe, from Old English catacumbe, catacumbas pl, from Late Latin catacumbae pl, name of the underground cemetery of St. Sebastian in Rome, of unclear origin. Perhaps a dissimilation (influenced by *cumbō (“to lie, recline”)) of Late… The correct English form is catacomb, spelled C-A-T-A-C-O-M-B.
Definition
- 1An underground system of tunnels and chambers with recesses for graves, used (in former times) as a cemetery; a tunnel system used for burying the dead, as in Paris or Ancient Rome.
Etymology
From Middle English catacombe, from Old English catacumbe, catacumbas pl, from Late Latin catacumbae pl, name of the underground cemetery of St. Sebastian in Rome, of unclear origin. Perhaps a dissimilation (influenced by *cumbō (“to lie, recline”)) of Late Latin cata tumbās (literally “among the tombs”) (from Ancient Greek κατά (katá, “under”) and τύμβος (túmbos, “tomb”)). Some sources suggest Ancient Greek κύμβη (kúmbē, “drinking vessel”) as an alternative etymon, but the semantic link is unclear.
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 “catacomb”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-A-T-A-C-O-M-B - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkætəkuːm/ (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.