clerestory
/ˈklɪəɹ.stɔːɹi/
"clerestory" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“clerestory” is uncommon English (frequency #94,685 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #94,685
- frequency rank, English
- 43,570
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The upper part of a wall containing windows to let in natural light to a building, especially in the nave, transept and choir of a church or cathedral.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | clerestory |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈklɪəɹ.stɔːɹi/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #94,685 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “clerestory” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
clerestory is uncommon English at frequency #94,685 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈklɪəɹ.stɔːɹi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The upper part of a wall containing windows to let in natural light to a building, especially in the nave, transept and choir of a church or cathedral.".
clerestory has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English clerestory, from clere (“clear: light, lighted”) + story (“storey/story: level of a building”). The correct English form is clerestory, spelled C-L-E-R-E-S-T-O-R-Y.
Definition
- 1The upper part of a wall containing windows to let in natural light to a building, especially in the nave, transept and choir of a church or cathedral.
Etymology
From Middle English clerestory, from clere (“clear: light, lighted”) + story (“storey/story: level of a building”).
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); 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
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Using “clerestory”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-L-E-R-E-S-T-O-R-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈklɪəɹ.stɔːɹi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.