desuetude
/ˈdɛswɪtjuːd/
"desuetude" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“desuetude” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The state when something (for example, a custom or a law) is no longer observed nor practised; disuse, obsolescence; (countable) an instance of this.
Corpus desk
Index EN-desuetude · desuetude · English
desuetude · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "D" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | desuetude |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdɛswɪtjuːd/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “desuetude” in English
Rare enough to double-check
desuetude is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈdɛswɪtjuːd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for desuetude, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Late Middle English desuetude, dissuetude (“discontinuance of a practice, disuse”), from Middle French désuétude (“obsolescence”) (modern French désuétude), from Latin dēsuētūdo (“discontinuance of a practice or a habit, disuse”), from dēsuētus + -tūdō… The correct English form is desuetude, spelled D-E-S-U-E-T-U-D-E.
Definition
- 1The state when something (for example, a custom or a law) is no longer observed nor practised; disuse, obsolescence; (countable) an instance of this.
- 2Chiefly followed by from or of: a cessation of practising or using something.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how desuetude appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
And they being in a capacity to forget by reaſon of deſuetude, it will be a nevv pleaſure to them to recall to minde their almoſt obliterate ſpeculations.
For whatſoever is derived from the law of God cannot by men admit variety, nor ſuffer diminution, or goe into deſuetude, or be extinguiſh'd by abrogation: […]
Etymology
From Late Middle English desuetude, dissuetude (“discontinuance of a practice, disuse”), from Middle French désuétude (“obsolescence”) (modern French désuétude), from Latin dēsuētūdo (“discontinuance of a practice or a habit, disuse”), from dēsuētus + -tūdō (“suffix forming abstract nouns indicating conditions or states”). Dēsuētus is the perfect passive participle of dēsuēscō (“to make unaccustomed”), from de- (prefix having a reversing or undoing effect) + suēscō (“to become accustomed or used to; (Late Latin) to accustom, habituate, train”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swé (“self”) + *dʰeh₁- (“to do; to place, put”), in the sense “to set as one’s own”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.