confraternity

noun

"confraternity" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“confraternity” is uncommon English (frequency #97,962 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#97,962
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A group with a common interest.

Corpus desk

Index EN-confraternity · confraternity · English

confraternity · rank #97,962 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #97,962
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH conjunctive

Nearest frequency peer: conjunctive (+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 “confraternity”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for confraternity
PropertyValue
Headwordconfraternity
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters13
Frequency rank#97,962
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “confraternity” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).confraternityfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “conjunctive” (#97,963), “confab” (#97,960), “connote” (#97,964). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “confraternity” is #97,962. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

confraternity is uncommon English at frequency #97,962 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

confraternity doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French confraternité. The correct English form is confraternity, spelled C-O-N-F-R-A-T-E-R-N-I-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A group with a common interest.
  2. 2
    A religious fraternity or brotherhood.
  3. 3
    Brotherly friendship.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how confraternity appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. First the cell, then combinations of cells, then combinations of combinations, then more and more complex combinations, till the body of man is reached, where endless confraternities of cells, all with different functions, working to build and sustain different organs, […]
  2. The two gravitated together in response to that law of nature which rules that the whole confraternity of politicians prefer to operate within the closed circle of its own initiates, rather than waste time with outsiders […]

Etymology

From Middle French confraternité.

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 "confraternity"?
"confraternity" is spelled C-O-N-F-R-A-T-E-R-N-I-T-Y.
What does "confraternity" mean?
As a noun, "confraternity" means: A group with a common interest.
What is the origin of the word "confraternity"?
From Middle French confraternité. 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 "confraternity", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 13 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list