documentarian
/ˌdɒk.jʊ.mənˈtɛəɹi.ən/
"documentarian" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“documentarian” is an uncommon English word, ranked #82,238 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #82,238
- frequency rank, English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person whose profession is to create documentary films.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | documentarian |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌdɒk.jʊ.mənˈtɛəɹi.ən/ |
| Letters | 13 |
| Frequency rank | #82,238 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “documentarian” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for documentarian is 13 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌdɒk.jʊ.mənˈtɛəɹi.ən/. Corpus data places it at rank #82,238 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for documentarian in our index -- a straightforward spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From documentary + -an. From document + -arian. The correct English form is documentarian, spelled D-O-C-U-M-E-N-T-A-R-I-A-N.
Definition
- 1A person whose profession is to create documentary films.
- 2A person who writes software documentation.
- 3A person who cares about communication and documentation.
- 4Somebody who advocates the documentary hypothesis.
Etymology
From documentary + -an. From document + -arian.
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); 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
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Using “documentarian”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-O-C-U-M-E-N-T-A-R-I-A-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌdɒk.jʊ.mənˈtɛəɹi.ən/ (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
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.