ecclesiastical
/əˌkli.ziˈæ.stə.kəl/
"ecclesiastical" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ecclesiastical” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,154 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #15,154
- frequency rank, English
- 14
- letters
- 19
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of or pertaining to the church.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ecclesiastical |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /əˌkli.ziˈæ.stə.kəl/ |
| Letters | 14 |
| Frequency rank | #15,154 |
| Misspellings tracked | 19 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ecclesiastical” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for ecclesiastical is 14 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˌkli.ziˈæ.stə.kəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,154 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Of or pertaining to the church.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 19 likely wrong-spelling variants for ecclesiastical, with forms such as "ceclesiastical", "eccelsiastical", and "eccleisastical". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English ecclesiasticall, ecclesiasticalle, from Latin ecclēsiasticus + -al. By surface analysis, ecclesiastic + -al or ecclesiast + -ical. The correct English form is ecclesiastical, spelled E-C-C-L-E-S-I-A-S-T-I-C-A-L.
Definition
- 1Of or pertaining to the church.
Etymology
From Middle English ecclesiasticall, ecclesiasticalle, from Latin ecclēsiasticus + -al. By surface analysis, ecclesiastic + -al or ecclesiast + -ical.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ceclesiastical,eccelsiastical,eccleisastical,ecclesaistical,ecclesiasitcal,ecclesiasstical,ecclesiastcial,ecclesiastiacl,ecclesiasticall,ecclesiasticcal,ecclesiasticla,ecclesiasttical,ecclesiatsical,ecclesisatical,ecclessiastical,eccllesiastical,ecclseiastical,eclcesiastical,eclesiastical
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ecclesiastical - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "ecclesiastical"?
What does "ecclesiastical" mean?
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Using “ecclesiastical”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-C-C-L-E-S-I-A-S-T-I-C-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əˌkli.ziˈæ.stə.kəl/ (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.