festschrift

/ˈfɛstˌʃɹɪft/

//ˈfɛstˌʃɹɪft// noun

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

"festschrift" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“festschrift” is uncommon English (frequency #72,309 among 2,507 “F” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#72,309
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A collection of articles, essays, etc., published together as a memorial or tribute to an academic or some other respected person (often on their birthday).

Corpus desk

Index EN-festschrift · festschrift · English

festschrift · rank #72,309 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #72,309
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH fiqh

Nearest frequency peer: fiqh (+2 rank slots)

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.

Long-tail ranks near “festschrift”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “festschrift” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for festschrift
PropertyValue
Headwordfestschrift
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈfɛstˌʃɹɪft/
Letters11
Frequency rank#72,309
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “festschrift” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).festschriftfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “fiqh” (#72,311), “Felixstowe” (#72,306), “Fitton” (#72,313). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “festschrift” is #72,309. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

festschrift is uncommon English at frequency #72,309 among 2,507 “F” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈfɛstˌʃɹɪft/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A collection of articles, essays, etc., published together as a memorial or tribute to an academic or some other respected person (often on their birthday).".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for festschrift, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from German Festschrift, from Fest (“celebration; festival”) + Schrift (“writing (work of an author)”). The correct English form is festschrift, spelled F-E-S-T-S-C-H-R-I-F-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A collection of articles, essays, etc., published together as a memorial or tribute to an academic or some other respected person (often on their birthday).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how festschrift appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Great preparations are being made and no effort spared to render the meeting a success. [...] The City of Berlin will present a Festschrift.
  2. So many people of so many different kinds have been influenced by [Burrhus Frederic] Skinner's work and writings; who should be invited to contribute to a Festschrift volume?

Etymology

Borrowed from German Festschrift, from Fest (“celebration; festival”) + Schrift (“writing (work of an author)”).

This word in other languages

mélanges(Français)Festschrift(Deutsch)

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 "festschrift"?
"festschrift" is spelled F-E-S-T-S-C-H-R-I-F-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfɛstˌʃɹɪft/.
What does "festschrift" mean?
As a noun, "festschrift" means: A collection of articles, essays, etc., published together as a memorial or tribute to an academic or some other respected person (often on their birthday).
How do you pronounce "festschrift"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "festschrift" is /ˈfɛstˌʃɹɪft/. 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 "festschrift"?
Borrowed from German Festschrift, from Fest (“celebration; festival”) + Schrift (“writing (work of an author)”). 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "festschrift", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

familiarise#72,298endocytosis#72,276curtailment#72,219comradeship#72,198

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list