novena
"novena" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“novena” is uncommon English (frequency #83,564 among 1,534 “N” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #83,564
- frequency rank, English
- 1,534
- “N” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A recitation of prayers and devotions for nine consecutive days, especially one to a saint to ask for their intercession.
Corpus desk
Index EN-novena · novena · English
novena · rank #83,564 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #83,564
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,534
- PHOTO-FINISH nostalgically
Nearest frequency peer: nostalgically (-1 rank slots)
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.
Long-tail ranks near “novena”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- nightwear
nightwear
16,442 corpus weight
- nonrefundab…
nonrefundable
16,440 corpus weight
- nostalgical…
nostalgically
16,438 corpus weight
- novena
novena
16,437 corpus weight
- NYI
NYI
16,434 corpus weight
- O'Flaherty
O'Flaherty
16,432 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “novena” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | novena |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #83,564 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “novena” in English
Rare enough to double-check
novena is uncommon English at frequency #83,564 among 1,534 “N” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A recitation of prayers and devotions for nine consecutive days, especially one to a saint to ask for their intercession.".
No misspelling variants are generated for novena in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. 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 Ecclesiastical Latin novēna, from Latin novēnus (“nine [each]”). The correct English form is novena, spelled N-O-V-E-N-A.
Definition
- 1A recitation of prayers and devotions for nine consecutive days, especially one to a saint to ask for their intercession.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how novena appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The good nuns, who had been so sure of her vocation, perceived with great astonishment that Mademoiselle Rouault seemed to be slipping from them. They had indeed been so lavish to her of prayers, retreats, novenas, and sermons, they had so often preached the respect due to saints and martyrs, and given so much good advice as to the modesty of the body and…
Etymology
From Ecclesiastical Latin novēna, from Latin novēnus (“nine [each]”).
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "novena", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).