imbrication
"imbrication" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“imbrication” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A set of tiles or shingles that overlap like the scales of a fish.
Corpus desk
Index EN-imbrication · imbrication · English
imbrication · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "I" 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | imbrication |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “imbrication” in English
Rare enough to double-check
imbrication is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for imbrication in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French imbrication. The correct English form is imbrication, spelled I-M-B-R-I-C-A-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1A set of tiles or shingles that overlap like the scales of a fish.
- 2Overlapping of layers of tissue in wound closure or in correctional or reconstructive surgery.
- 3A sedimentary deposition in which small, flat stones are tiled in the same direction so that they overlap.
- 4A phenomenon occurring in many Bantu languages in which morphemes interweave in certain morphophonological conditions.
- 5The use of relative positioning, often by varying amounts of indentation, to define hierarchical relationships between elements of code.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how imbrication appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
SMAS flaps or SMASectomies are considered imbrications in this chapter. SMAS tightening is probably a more accurate description with 'open' SMAS techniques referring to imbrication and 'closed' SMAS techniques referring to plication.
The Archean basement beyond and beneath the northwest flanks of the turbidite basins constitutes the cratonic foreland against which northwest-directed tectonic imbrication is thought to have occurred.
Etymology
From French imbrication.
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.