faculty

/ˈfæk.əl.ti/

//ˈfæk.əl.ti// noun

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

"faculty" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“faculty” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #4,156 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#4,156
frequency rank, English
7
letters
11
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The academic staff at schools, colleges, universities or not-for-profit research institutes, as opposed to the students or support staff.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

faculty vs fault
71% similar
faculty vs faults
71% similar
faculty vs faulty
86% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for faculty
PropertyValue
Headwordfaculty
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈfæk.əl.ti/
Letters7
Frequency rank#4,156
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “faculty” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). faculty lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for faculty is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfæk.əl.ti/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,156 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for faculty, with forms such as "afculty", "facculty", and "facluty". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "fault", "faults", "faulty", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English faculte (“power, property”), from Old French faculte, from Latin facultas (“capability, ability, skill, abundance, plenty, stock, goods, property; in Medieval Latin also a body of teachers”), another form of facilitas (“easiness, facilit… The correct English form is faculty, spelled F-A-C-U-L-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The academic staff at schools, colleges, universities or not-for-profit research institutes, as opposed to the students or support staff.
  2. 2
    A division of a university.
  3. 3
    An ability, power, or skill.
  4. 4
    An authority, power, or privilege conferred by a higher authority.
  5. 5
    A licence to make alterations to a church.
  6. 6
    The members of a profession.

Etymology

From Middle English faculte (“power, property”), from Old French faculte, from Latin facultas (“capability, ability, skill, abundance, plenty, stock, goods, property; in Medieval Latin also a body of teachers”), another form of facilitas (“easiness, facility, etc.”), from facul, another form of facilis (“easy, facile”); see facile. Doublet of facility.

Synonyms

abilityattributecapabilitycapacityendowmentfacultygiftpotentialpotentialitypowerpropensitypropertytalentvirtuewherewithal

This word in other languages

claustro(Español)faculté(Français)Kollegium(Deutsch)setor(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: afculty,facculty,facluty,facullty,facultty,facultyy,faculyt,facutly,fauclty,fcaulty,ffaculty

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of faculty - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

afculty2facculty1facluty2facullty1facultty1facultyy1faculyt2facutly2
Edit distance from "faculty"

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 "faculty"?
"faculty" is spelled F-A-C-U-L-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfæk.əl.ti/.
What does "faculty" mean?
As a noun, "faculty" means: The academic staff at schools, colleges, universities or not-for-profit research institutes, as opposed to the students or support staff.
What words are commonly confused with "faculty"?
"faculty" is commonly confused with "fault", "faults", "faulty". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "faculty"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "faculty" is /ˈfæk.əl.ti/. 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 "faculty"?
From Middle English faculte (“power, property”), from Old French faculte, from Latin facultas (“capability, ability, skill, abundance, plenty, stock, goods, property; in Medieval Latin also a body of teachers”), another form of facilitas (“easines... 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.

Using “faculty”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is F-A-C-U-L-T-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈfæk.əl.ti/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “fault” - see the side-by-side comparison. faculty vs fault
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list