civitas

/ˈki.wɪˌtɑs/

//ˈki.wɪˌtɑs// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"civitas" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“civitas” is uncommon English (frequency #72,187 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#72,187
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - the social body of the citizens united by law

Corpus desk

Index EN-civitas · civitas · English

civitas · rank #72,187 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #72,187
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH cisplatin

Nearest frequency peer: cisplatin (-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 “civitas”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for civitas
PropertyValue
Headwordcivitas
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈki.wɪˌtɑs/
Letters7
Frequency rank#72,187
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “civitas” in English

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “cisplatin” (#72,186), “cinnabar” (#72,185), “clunk” (#72,190). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “civitas” is #72,187. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

civitas is uncommon English at frequency #72,187 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈki.wɪˌtɑs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for civitas, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Unadapted borrowing from Latin cīvitās. Doublet of city. The correct English form is civitas, spelled C-I-V-I-T-A-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    the social body of the citizens united by law
  2. 2
    a city and its territory
  3. 3
    a community
  4. 4
    a state, (chiefly) a city-state

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin cīvitās. Doublet of city.

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 "civitas"?
"civitas" is spelled C-I-V-I-T-A-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈki.wɪˌtɑs/.
What does "civitas" mean?
As a noun, "civitas" means: the social body of the citizens united by law
How do you pronounce "civitas"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "civitas" is /ˈki.wɪˌtɑs/. 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 "civitas"?
Unadapted borrowing from Latin cīvitās. Doublet of city. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

chapeau#72,177cassock#72,172candler#72,165bycatch#72,159

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list