grimoire
/ˈɡɹɪmwɑː/
"grimoire" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“grimoire” is uncommon English (frequency #65,159 among 18,276 “G” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #65,159
- frequency rank, English
- 18,276
- “G” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A book of instructions in the use of alchemy or magic, especially one containing spells for summoning demons.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | grimoire |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡɹɪmwɑː/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #65,159 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “grimoire” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
grimoire is uncommon English at frequency #65,159 among 18,276 “G” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɡɹɪmwɑː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A book of instructions in the use of alchemy or magic, especially one containing spells for summoning demons.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for grimoire in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French grimoire, a variant of grammaire, from Old French gramaire (“grammar; grimoire; conjurer, magician”), from Latin grammatica (“grammar; philology”), from grammaticus (“relating to grammar, grammatical”), from Ancient Greek γρᾰμμᾰτῐκός (g… The correct English form is grimoire, spelled G-R-I-M-O-I-R-E.
Definition
- 1A book of instructions in the use of alchemy or magic, especially one containing spells for summoning demons.
Etymology
Borrowed from French grimoire, a variant of grammaire, from Old French gramaire (“grammar; grimoire; conjurer, magician”), from Latin grammatica (“grammar; philology”), from grammaticus (“relating to grammar, grammatical”), from Ancient Greek γρᾰμμᾰτῐκός (grămmătĭkós, “knowing one's letters; concerned with textual criticism”), from γράμμα (grámma, “that which is drawn or written; letter; book, writing”) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix added to noun stems to form adjectives). γράμμα is derived from γρᾰ́φω (grắphō, “to cut into, scratch; to draw, paint; to write”, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- (“to carve”)) + -μᾰ (-mă, suffix added to verbal stems forming neuter nouns denoting the result of, a particular instance of, or the object of an action). The English word is a doublet of glamour, glamoury, gramarye, and grammar.
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); 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
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Using “grimoire”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-R-I-M-O-I-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɡɹɪmwɑː/ (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
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.