exergue
/ɪɡˈzɜː(ɹ)ɡ/
"exergue" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“exergue” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A space beneath the main design on a coin or medal for the insertion of the date or other minor inscription.
Corpus desk
Index EN-exergue · exergue · English
exergue · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "E" 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 | exergue |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɪɡˈzɜː(ɹ)ɡ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “exergue” in English
Rare enough to double-check
exergue is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɪɡˈzɜː(ɹ)ɡ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A space beneath the main design on a coin or medal for the insertion of the date or other minor inscription.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for exergue in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French exergue. The correct English form is exergue, spelled E-X-E-R-G-U-E.
Definition
- 1A space beneath the main design on a coin or medal for the insertion of the date or other minor inscription.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how exergue appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
In farther eviction of what has been advanced, relative to the initial letters in the exergues of certain Sidonian coins; it may not be improper to observe, that a medal in my small collection exhibits the letter Hheth, immediately after the numerical inscription in the exergue.
In childhood I must have felt with the energy of a man what I now find stamped upon memory in lines as vivid, as deep, and as durable as the exergues of the Carthaginian medals.
Etymology
Borrowed from French exergue.
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.