genitive case

noun

"genitive-case" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“genitive case” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The grammatical case, chiefly applicable to nouns, used to express a relationship of origin or possession. It corresponds roughly to the English preposition of and the suffix -'s.

Corpus desk

Index EN-genitive-case · genitive case · English

genitive case · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "G" 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.

Key facts for genitive case
PropertyValue
Headwordgenitive case
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “genitive case” in English

genitive casefalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

genitive case is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The grammatical case, chiefly applicable to nouns, used to express a relationship of origin or possession. It corresponds roughly to the English preposition of and the suffix -'s.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for genitive case, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct English form is genitive case, spelled G-E-N-I-T-I-V-E- -C-A-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The grammatical case, chiefly applicable to nouns, used to express a relationship of origin or possession. It corresponds roughly to the English preposition of and the suffix -'s.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. In very early times a man seems to have been known by a single name together with his father's name in the genitive case, e.g. Marcus Marci; […]

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "genitive case"?
"genitive case" is spelled G-E-N-I-T-I-V-E- -C-A-S-E.
What does "genitive case" mean?
As a noun, "genitive case" means: The grammatical case, chiefly applicable to nouns, used to express a relationship of origin or possession. It corresponds roughly to the English preposition of and the suffix -'s.
What language does "genitive case" come from?
"genitive case" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list