collegial
/kəˈliːd͡ʒəl/
"collegial" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“collegial” is uncommon English (frequency #62,785 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #62,785
- frequency rank, English
- 43,570
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of, relating to, or ruled by colleagues.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | collegial |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /kəˈliːd͡ʒəl/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #62,785 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “collegial” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
collegial is uncommon English at frequency #62,785 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /kəˈliːd͡ʒəl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for collegial, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English collegial, from Middle French collégial. The correct English form is collegial, spelled C-O-L-L-E-G-I-A-L.
Definition
- 1Of, relating to, or ruled by colleagues.
- 2Ruled by bishops having equal power.
- 3Of or relating to a college or its students; collegiate.
- 4Possessing adherence to the ethos, standards and conduct that govern behavior among colleagues within a given organization or profession.
Etymology
From Middle English collegial, from Middle French collégial.
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 “collegial”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-O-L-L-E-G-I-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kəˈliːd͡ʒəl/ (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.