chrestomathy
/kɹɛˈstɒməθi/
"chrestomathy" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“chrestomathy” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A collection of written passages, used to learn an unfamiliar language.
Corpus desk
Index EN-chrestomathy · chrestomathy · English
chrestomathy · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-4 4 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 | chrestomathy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kɹɛˈstɒməθi/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “chrestomathy” in English
Rare enough to double-check
chrestomathy is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /kɹɛˈstɒməθi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
chrestomathy has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek χρηστομάθεια (khrēstomátheia, “useful for learning”). The correct English form is chrestomathy, spelled C-H-R-E-S-T-O-M-A-T-H-Y.
Definition
- 1A collection of written passages, used to learn an unfamiliar language.
- 2A collection of choice passages from an author or authors.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how chrestomathy appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
EC Bridgman's Chinese Chrestomathy in the Canton Dialect (1841)
A Mencken Chrestomathy (1982)
Etymology
From Ancient Greek χρηστομάθεια (khrēstomátheia, “useful for learning”).
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.