letterpress
/ˈlɛtɚˌpɹɛs/
"letterpress" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“letterpress” is an uncommon English word, ranked #56,243 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #56,243
- frequency rank, English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The printing process in which ink is applied to the top surface of a raised image area, which is then pressed against paper to transfer the image.
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See how letterpress compares against similar English words.
Browse all word comparisons →| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | letterpress |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈlɛtɚˌpɹɛs/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #56,243 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “letterpress” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for letterpress is 11 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈlɛtɚˌpɹɛs/. Corpus data places it at rank #56,243 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No misspelling variants are generated for letterpress in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From letter + press. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is letterpress, spelled L-E-T-T-E-R-P-R-E-S-S, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1The printing process in which ink is applied to the top surface of a raised image area, which is then pressed against paper to transfer the image.
- 2Printing directly from type, in distinction from printing from plates.
- 3A machine used for such printing.
Etymology
From letter + press.
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.
Cite this page
Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY-SA). Copy the citation:
PlainSpell, “letterpress, English word data” (May 6, 2026). Derived from Wiktionary (kaikki.org, CC BY-SA) and an open word-frequency list. https://plainspell.com/en/word/letterpress
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Using “letterpress”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-E-T-T-E-R-P-R-E-S-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈlɛtɚˌpɹɛs/ (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
Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter L in our English index: