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 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#99,145
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Established or accepted religious rites or customs of worship; state of religious development.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cultus · cultus · English

cultus · rank #99,145 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #99,145
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH curiouser

Nearest frequency peer: curiouser (+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 “cultus”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
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)

Long-tail rank of “cultus” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).cultusfalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “curiouser” (#99,146), “curtsey” (#99,147), “Cybele” (#99,149). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cultus” is #99,145. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cultus is uncommon English at frequency #99,145 among 5,599 “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.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Among the rituals which members of their family had inaugurated in other states of Greece, was a peculiar cultus of Hermes (Mercury) at Stymphalus in Arcadia.

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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "cultus", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Cybele#99,149Cristi#99,138dahlin#99,153Daoism#99,159

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list