commandant
/ˈkɒməndænt/
"commandant" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“commandant” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #21,164 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #21,164
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 14
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A commanding officer, usually of a specific force or division.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | commandant |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkɒməndænt/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #21,164 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “commandant” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for commandant is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkɒməndænt/. Corpus data places it at rank #21,164 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for commandant, with forms such as "ccommandant", "cmomandant", and "comamndant". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "commanding", "commandment", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin con- Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂-der. Proto-Italic *manus Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁tder. Proto-Italic *-ðō Proto-Italic … The correct English form is commandant, spelled C-O-M-M-A-N-D-A-N-T.
Definition
- 1A commanding officer, usually of a specific force or division.
- 2A military rank equivalent to major used in some countries, especially when derived from French usage.
- 3lieutenant-colonel
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin con- Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂-der. Proto-Italic *manus Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁tder. Proto-Italic *-ðō Proto-Italic *manuðō Latin mandō Latin commendō ▲ Latin mandōinflu. Latin commandāre Old French comander Middle French commander French commanderder. French commandant English commandant From French commandant.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccommandant,cmomandant,comamndant,comandant,commadnant,commanadnt,commandannt,commandantt,commandatn,commanddant,commandnat,commanndant,commnadant,ocmmandant
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of commandant - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "commandant"?
What does "commandant" mean?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “commandant”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-O-M-M-A-N-D-A-N-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkɒməndænt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “commanding” - see the side-by-side comparison. commandant vs commanding
- 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.