catchword
/ˈkat͡ʃwɜːd/
"catchword" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“catchword” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A word under the right-hand side of the last line on a book page that repeats the first word from the following page. Such words served as aids to the bookbinder (to check rapidly for correct place...
Corpus desk
Index EN-catchword · catchword · English
catchword · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | catchword |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkat͡ʃwɜːd/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “catchword” in English
Rare enough to double-check
catchword is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkat͡ʃwɜːd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
catchword has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From catch + word. The correct English form is catchword, spelled C-A-T-C-H-W-O-R-D.
Definition
- 1A word under the right-hand side of the last line on a book page that repeats the first word from the following page. Such words served as aids to the bookbinder (to check rapidly for correct placement of leaves) and were also viewed by some readers as aids to smooth reading.
- 2The last word of a speech, serving as a cue for the next speaker.
- 3A word or expression repeated until it becomes representative of a party, school, business, or point of view.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how catchword appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Near-synonym: custos
One could give a long list of such intellectual fashions and catchwords which in the course of two or three generations have in turn dominated the thinking of the intellectual.
Etymology
From catch + word.
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.