cedar
/ˈsiː.də/
"cedar" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cedar” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #10,178 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #10,178
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 17
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A coniferous tree of the genus Cedrus in the family Pinaceae.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cedar |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsiː.də/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #10,178 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 17 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cedar” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for cedar is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsiː.də/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,178 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for cedar, with forms such as "ccedar", "cdear", and "ceadr". 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. It also participates in 17 confusable-pair relationships, "char", "czar", "cede", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English cedre, probably from Old French cedre, from Latin cedrus, from Ancient Greek κέδρος (kédros). Some suggest that the Middle English word was partially from Old English ċeder, but the gap in attestation between the two words makes this pro… The correct English form is cedar, spelled C-E-D-A-R.
Definition
- 1A coniferous tree of the genus Cedrus in the family Pinaceae.
- 2A coniferous tree of the family Cupressaceae, especially of the genera Juniperus, Cupressus, Calocedrus, or Thuja.
- 3A flowering tree of the family Meliaceae, especially of the genera Cedrela or Toona.
- 4The aromatic wood from a tree of genus Cedrus or from any of several not closely related trees.
Etymology
From Middle English cedre, probably from Old French cedre, from Latin cedrus, from Ancient Greek κέδρος (kédros). Some suggest that the Middle English word was partially from Old English ċeder, but the gap in attestation between the two words makes this proposal unlikely. Possible doublet of citrus.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccedar,cdear,ceadr,cedarr,ceddar,cedra,ecdar
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cedar - 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
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Using “cedar”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-E-D-A-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsiː.də/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “char” - see the side-by-side comparison. cedar vs char
- 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.