Japheth
/ˈd͡ʒeɪfɛθ/
"japheth" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Japheth” is uncommon English (frequency #95,018 among 4,872 “J” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #95,018
- frequency rank, English
- 4,872
- “J” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The third son of Noah, brother to Shem and Ham, who received a blessing from God with Shem, considered to be the ancestor of the Japhetic people(s) (associated approx. with Indo-Europeans and Turki...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Japheth |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈd͡ʒeɪfɛθ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #95,018 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Japheth” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Japheth is uncommon English at frequency #95,018 among 4,872 “J” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ˈd͡ʒeɪfɛθ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for Japheth, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. 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: From Middle English Jafeth (as attested in Wycliffe's Bible), from Old English Iafeth (see e.g. Aelfric of Eynsham) and Middle French Japhet, both from Late Latin Iaphet, Iafeth, from Koine Greek Ἰάφεθ (Iápheth), from Hebrew יֶפֶת (yépheth). Further origin … The correct English form is Japheth, spelled J-A-P-H-E-T-H.
Definition
- 1The third son of Noah, brother to Shem and Ham, who received a blessing from God with Shem, considered to be the ancestor of the Japhetic people(s) (associated approx. with Indo-Europeans and Turkic peoples).
- 2A male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.
Etymology
From Middle English Jafeth (as attested in Wycliffe's Bible), from Old English Iafeth (see e.g. Aelfric of Eynsham) and Middle French Japhet, both from Late Latin Iaphet, Iafeth, from Koine Greek Ἰάφεθ (Iápheth), from Hebrew יֶפֶת (yépheth). Further origin uncertain; folk etymology as well as rabbinical and patristic claims usually point to a meaning like "enlarged", in reference to Genesis 9:27, or "fair" (pale, in reference to complexion).
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
How do you spell "Japheth"?
What does "Japheth" mean?
How do you pronounce "Japheth"?
What is the origin of the word "Japheth"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “Japheth”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is J-A-P-H-E-T-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈd͡ʒeɪfɛθ/ (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.