ICQ
/ˌaɪsiːˈkjuː/
"icq" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ICQ” is uncommon English (frequency #99,390 among 2,140 “I” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #99,390
- frequency rank, English
- 2,140
- “I” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A call for acknowledgement.
Corpus desk
Index EN-icq · ICQ · English
ICQ · rank #99,390 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #99,390
- LEN-MID 3 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,140
- PHOTO-FINISH hydroelectric…
Nearest frequency peer: hydroelectricity (-4 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 “ICQ”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- HPP
HPP
622 corpus weight
- huggable
huggable
619 corpus weight
- hydroelectr…
hydroelectricity
615 corpus weight
- ICQ
ICQ
611 corpus weight
- iid
iid
605 corpus weight
- ileum
ileum
603 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “ICQ” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ICQ |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌaɪsiːˈkjuː/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #99,390 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “ICQ” in English
Rare enough to double-check
ICQ is uncommon English at frequency #99,390 among 2,140 “I” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌaɪsiːˈkjuː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A call for acknowledgement.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for ICQ, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: A pun on the pronunciation of I seek you. The correct English form is ICQ, spelled I-C-Q.
Definition
- 1A call for acknowledgement.
Etymology
A pun on the pronunciation of I seek you.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ICQ", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).