Cressida
"cressida" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Cressida” is uncommon English (frequency #50,449 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #50,449
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A female given name from Ancient Greek.
Corpus desk
Index EN-cressida · Cressida · English
Cressida · rank #50,449 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #50,449
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH creatinine
Nearest frequency peer: creatinine (-2 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 “Cressida”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- coun
coun
49,558 corpus weight
- craggy
craggy
49,555 corpus weight
- creatinine
creatinine
49,554 corpus weight
- Cressida
Cressida
49,552 corpus weight
- cronyism
cronyism
49,550 corpus weight
- CRP
CRP
49,549 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “Cressida” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Cressida |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #50,449 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “Cressida” in English
Rare enough to double-check
Cressida is uncommon English at frequency #50,449 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as aproper noun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Cressida has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Used by Geoffrey Chaucer, also by Shakespeare in Troilus and Cressida (1602), from Italian Criseida (which Boccaccio mistakenly substituted for Briseida (“Briseis”)), from Ancient Greek Χρυσηΐς (Khrusēḯs), from Ancient Greek χρυσός (khrusós, “gold”). The correct English form is Cressida, spelled C-R-E-S-S-I-D-A.
Definition
- 1A female given name from Ancient Greek.
- 2A moon of Uranus, Solar System.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how Cressida appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Of course, Cressida had looked up her name online. Reporting to her parents, incensed: "'Cressida'―or 'Criseyde'―isn't nice at all. She's 'faithless'―that's how people thought of her in the Middle Ages .Chaucer wrote about her, and then Shakespeare. ( - - - )" "Oh, honey, come on. We don't believe in 'fate' in the U.S. of A. in 1996―this ain't the Middle…
Etymology
Used by Geoffrey Chaucer, also by Shakespeare in Troilus and Cressida (1602), from Italian Criseida (which Boccaccio mistakenly substituted for Briseida (“Briseis”)), from Ancient Greek Χρυσηΐς (Khrusēḯs), from Ancient Greek χρυσός (khrusós, “gold”).
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 "Cressida"?
What does "Cressida" mean?
What is the origin of the word "Cressida"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Cressida", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).