obeisance
/əˈbiː.səns/
"obeisance" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“obeisance” is uncommon English (frequency #84,573 among 15,494 “O” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #84,573
- frequency rank, English
- 15,494
- “O” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Demonstration of an obedient attitude, especially by bowing deeply; a deep bow which demonstrates such an attitude.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | obeisance |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /əˈbiː.səns/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #84,573 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “obeisance” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
obeisance is uncommon English at frequency #84,573 among 15,494 “O” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /əˈbiː.səns/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
obeisance has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English obeisaunce (“obedience, obeisance”), from Old French obeïssance, derived from obeïssant (“obedient”), participle of obeïr (“to obey”), from Latin oboediō, obēdiō; ob- (“to, for”) + audiō (“to hear”). Cognate with obedience. The correct English form is obeisance, spelled O-B-E-I-S-A-N-C-E.
Definition
- 1Demonstration of an obedient attitude, especially by bowing deeply; a deep bow which demonstrates such an attitude.
- 2An obedient attitude.
Etymology
From Middle English obeisaunce (“obedience, obeisance”), from Old French obeïssance, derived from obeïssant (“obedient”), participle of obeïr (“to obey”), from Latin oboediō, obēdiō; ob- (“to, for”) + audiō (“to hear”). Cognate with obedience.
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 “obeisance”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-B-E-I-S-A-N-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əˈbiː.səns/ (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.