debenture

/dɪˈbɛntjʊə/

//dɪˈbɛntjʊə// noun

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

"debenture" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“debenture” is uncommon English (frequency #76,693 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#76,693
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A certificate that certifies an amount of money owed to someone; a certificate of indebtedness.

Corpus desk

Index EN-debenture · debenture · English

debenture · rank #76,693 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #76,693
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH decadal

Nearest frequency peer: decadal (+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 “debenture”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for debenture
PropertyValue
Headworddebenture
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/dɪˈbɛntjʊə/
Letters9
Frequency rank#76,693
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “debenture” 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).debenturefalls 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: “decadal” (#76,694), “decamp” (#76,695), “datasheet” (#76,690). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “debenture” is #76,693. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

debenture is uncommon English at frequency #76,693 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /dɪˈbɛntjʊə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for debenture, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From earlier debentur, from Latin debentur (“they are owing”), supposedly the first word of such a document in early times. The ending was apparently influenced by words in -(t)ure. The correct English form is debenture, spelled D-E-B-E-N-T-U-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A certificate that certifies an amount of money owed to someone; a certificate of indebtedness.
  2. 2
    A certificate of a loan made to the government; a government bond.
  3. 3
    A type of debt instrument secured only by the general credit or promise to pay of the issuer, not involving any physical assets or collateral, now commonly issued by large, well established corporations with adequate credit ratings.
  4. 4
    A document granting lenders a charge over a borrower’s physical assets, giving them a means to collect a debt, as part of a secured loan.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Madame Corre, who made the important decisions after her plodding husband had spent hours on the ledger, sold the family debentures and put the money into Dutch decurities.
  2. That the young Mr. Churchills liked—but they did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans. Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired.

Etymology

From earlier debentur, from Latin debentur (“they are owing”), supposedly the first word of such a document in early times. The ending was apparently influenced by words in -(t)ure.

This word in other languages

débenture(Français)

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 "debenture"?
"debenture" is spelled D-E-B-E-N-T-U-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is /dɪˈbɛntjʊə/.
What does "debenture" mean?
As a noun, "debenture" means: A certificate that certifies an amount of money owed to someone; a certificate of indebtedness.
How do you pronounce "debenture"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "debenture" is /dɪˈbɛntjʊə/. 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 "debenture"?
From earlier debentur, from Latin debentur (“they are owing”), supposedly the first word of such a document in early times. The ending was apparently influenced by words in -(t)ure. 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 "debenture", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

datasheet#76,690cruciform#76,681congealed#76,662downtrend#76,730

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list