clepsydra
/ˈklɛpsɪdɹə/
"clepsydra" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“clepsydra” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Synonym of water clock, especially (historical) ancient Greek and Roman forms.
Corpus desk
Index EN-clepsydra · clepsydra · English
clepsydra · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 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 | clepsydra |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈklɛpsɪdɹə/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “clepsydra” in English
Rare enough to double-check
clepsydra is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈklɛpsɪdɹə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Synonym of water clock, especially (historical) ancient Greek and Roman forms.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for clepsydra, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin clepsydra, from Ancient Greek κλεψύδρα (klepsúdra), from κλέπτειν (kléptein, “to steal”) + ὕδωρ (húdōr, “water”). The correct English form is clepsydra, spelled C-L-E-P-S-Y-D-R-A.
Definition
- 1Synonym of water clock, especially (historical) ancient Greek and Roman forms.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how clepsydra appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
"The dull, unflavoured drops from life's clepsydra".
They sat among the choiring clepsydras of the evening garden, time elapsing in a dozen ways, allowing their cigars to go out, keeping a companionable silence.
Etymology
From Latin clepsydra, from Ancient Greek κλεψύδρα (klepsúdra), from κλέπτειν (kléptein, “to steal”) + ὕδωρ (húdōr, “water”).
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.