Imhotep
/ɪmˈhoʊ.tɛp/
"imhotep" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Imhotep” is uncommon English (frequency #92,712 among 17,902 “I” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #92,712
- frequency rank, English
- 17,902
- “I” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A deified Ancient Egyptian priest, the inventor of the pyramid.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Imhotep |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ɪmˈhoʊ.tɛp/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #92,712 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Imhotep” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Imhotep is uncommon English at frequency #92,712 among 17,902 “I” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ɪmˈhoʊ.tɛp/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for Imhotep in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Egyptian jj-m-ḥtp (literally “(the one) coming in peace, (the one) returning home safely”): M18-G17-R4:X1*Q3 from the perfective active participle of jj (“to come, to return”) + m ḥtp (“in peace, safely”). The correct English form is Imhotep, spelled I-M-H-O-T-E-P.
Definition
- 1A deified Ancient Egyptian priest, the inventor of the pyramid.
- 2A male given name from Egyptian.
Etymology
From Egyptian jj-m-ḥtp (literally “(the one) coming in peace, (the one) returning home safely”): M18-G17-R4:X1*Q3 from the perfective active participle of jj (“to come, to return”) + m ḥtp (“in peace, safely”).
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 “Imhotep”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-M-H-O-T-E-P - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪmˈhoʊ.tɛp/ (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.