cinque

/sɪŋk/

//sɪŋk// noun

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

The verdict

“cinque” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #49,253 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#49,253
frequency rank, English
6
letters
8
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A card, die, or domino with five spots or pips.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

cinque vs clique
67% similar
cinque vs cirque
83% similar
cinque vs conquer
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for cinque
PropertyValue
Headwordcinque
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/sɪŋk/
Letters6
Frequency rank#49,253
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “cinque” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). cinque lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for cinque is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /sɪŋk/. Corpus data places it at rank #49,253 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A card, die, or domino with five spots or pips.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for cinque, with forms such as "ccinque", "cinnque", and "cinqeu". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "clique", "cirque", "conquer", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *pénkʷe From Middle English cink, from Middle French cinq, from Latin cīnque, variant of quīnque. The archaic spelling cinq is taken from modern French cinq, whereas the standard spelling is perhaps influenced by Italian cinque or a misspelling of… The correct English form is cinque, spelled C-I-N-Q-U-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A card, die, or domino with five spots or pips.

Etymology

PIE word *pénkʷe From Middle English cink, from Middle French cinq, from Latin cīnque, variant of quīnque. The archaic spelling cinq is taken from modern French cinq, whereas the standard spelling is perhaps influenced by Italian cinque or a misspelling of the French. The variant pronunciation /sæŋk/ is based on Modern French. Doublet of fin (“five currency units”), finnuf, five, pimp (“five”), ponzu, punch (“beverage”), and sengi (“currency”); related to Pompeii.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ccinque,cinnque,cinqeu,cinqque,cinuqe,ciqnue,cnique,icnque

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cinque - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ccinque1cinnque1cinqeu2cinqque1cinuqe2ciqnue2cnique2icnque2
Edit distance from "cinque"

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 "cinque"?
"cinque" is spelled C-I-N-Q-U-E. The IPA pronunciation is /sɪŋk/.
What does "cinque" mean?
As a noun, "cinque" means: A card, die, or domino with five spots or pips.
What words are commonly confused with "cinque"?
"cinque" is commonly confused with "clique", "cirque", "conquer". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "cinque"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cinque" is /sɪŋk/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "cinque"?
PIE word *pénkʷe From Middle English cink, from Middle French cinq, from Latin cīnque, variant of quīnque. The archaic spelling cinq is taken from modern French cinq, whereas the standard spelling is perhaps influenced by Italian cinque or a miss... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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.

Using “cinque”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is C-I-N-Q-U-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /sɪŋk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “clique” - see the side-by-side comparison. cinque vs clique
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list