cultus

/ˈkʌl.təs/

//ˈkʌl.təs// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"cultus" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cultus” is uncommon English (frequency #99,145 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#99,145
frequency rank, English
43,570
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Established or accepted religious rites or customs of worship; state of religious development.

Key facts for cultus
PropertyValue
Headwordcultus
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkʌl.təs/
Letters6
Frequency rank#99,145
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “cultus” 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). cultus 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

cultus is uncommon English at frequency #99,145 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkʌl.təs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Established or accepted religious rites or customs of worship; state of religious development.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for cultus, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin cultus (“cultivation, culture”). See cult. The correct English form is cultus, spelled C-U-L-T-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Established or accepted religious rites or customs of worship; state of religious development.

Etymology

From Latin cultus (“cultivation, culture”). See cult.

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 "cultus"?
"cultus" is spelled C-U-L-T-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkʌl.təs/.
What does "cultus" mean?
As a noun, "cultus" means: Established or accepted religious rites or customs of worship; state of religious development.
How do you pronounce "cultus"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cultus" is /ˈkʌl.təs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "cultus"?
From Latin cultus (“cultivation, culture”). See cult. 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.

Using “cultus”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is C-U-L-T-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈkʌl.təs/ (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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list