Cicely

name

"cicely" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Cicely” is uncommon English (frequency #56,011 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#56,011
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A female given name from Latin, a variant of Cecily and Cecilia used since the Middle Ages.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cicely · Cicely · English

Cicely · rank #56,011 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #56,011
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH chumps

Nearest frequency peer: chumps (-1 rank slots)

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.

Long-tail ranks near “Cicely”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “Cicely” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Cicely
PropertyValue
HeadwordCicely
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters6
Frequency rank#56,011
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “Cicely” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).Cicelyfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “chumps” (#56,010), “Cincy” (#56,012), “Chronos” (#56,009). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “Cicely” is #56,011. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Cicely is uncommon English at frequency #56,011 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as aproper noun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A female given name from Latin, a variant of Cecily and Cecilia used since the Middle Ages.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for Cicely, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is Cicely, spelled C-I-C-E-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A female given name from Latin, a variant of Cecily and Cecilia used since the Middle Ages.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how Cicely appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. , Induction, Scene II First Servant. - - - Sometimes you would call out for Cicely Hacket. Sly. Ay, the woman's maid of the house.

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

How do you spell "Cicely"?
"Cicely" is spelled C-I-C-E-L-Y.
What does "Cicely" mean?
As a proper noun, "Cicely" means: A female given name from Latin, a variant of Cecily and Cecilia used since the Middle Ages.
What language does "Cicely" come from?
"Cicely" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Cicely", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list