crofting

noun

"crofting" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“crofting” is uncommon English (frequency #90,326 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#90,326
frequency rank, English
43,570
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A form of land tenure and small-scale food production, unique to the Highlands and islands of Scotland, in which individual crofts are established on the better land while a large area of poor-qual...

Corpus desk

Index EN-crofting · crofting · English

crofting · rank #90,326 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #90,326
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 43,570
  • PHOTO-FINISH creaked

Nearest frequency peer: creaked (-4 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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “crofting”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “crofting” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of May 6, 2026
Key facts for crofting
PropertyValue
Headwordcrofting
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Frequency rank#90,326
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “crofting” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). crofting lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

crofting is uncommon English at frequency #90,326 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for crofting, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From croft + -ing. The correct English form is crofting, spelled C-R-O-F-T-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    A form of land tenure and small-scale food production, unique to the Highlands and islands of Scotland, in which individual crofts are established on the better land while a large area of poor-quality hill ground is shared by all the crofters of the township for grazing.
  2. 2
    The process of exposing linen to the sun, on the grass, in the process of bleaching.

Etymology

From croft + -ing.

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "crofting"?
"crofting" is spelled C-R-O-F-T-I-N-G.
What does "crofting" mean?
As a noun, "crofting" means: A form of land tenure and small-scale food production, unique to the Highlands and islands of Scotland, in which individual crofts are established on the better land while a large area of poor-qual...
What is the origin of the word "crofting"?
From croft + -ing. 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 "crofting", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list