listserv
"listserv" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“listserv” is uncommon English (frequency #98,378 among 16,425 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #98,378
- frequency rank, English
- 16,425
- “L” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A type of electronic mailing list, allowing for distribution of email to many subscribers.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | listserv |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #98,378 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “listserv” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
listserv is uncommon English at frequency #98,378 among 16,425 “L” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A type of electronic mailing list, allowing for distribution of email to many subscribers.".
listserv has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: Clipping of listserver. The correct English form is listserv, spelled L-I-S-T-S-E-R-V.
Definition
- 1A type of electronic mailing list, allowing for distribution of email to many subscribers.
Etymology
Clipping of listserver.
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 “listserv”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-I-S-T-S-E-R-V - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- 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.