offertory
/ˈɒfət(ə)ɹi/
"offertory" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“offertory” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A prayer said or sung as an anthem while offerings of bread and wine are placed on the altar during the Roman Catholic Mass or the Anglican Communion service.
Corpus desk
Index EN-offertory · offertory · English
offertory · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "O" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | offertory |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɒfət(ə)ɹi/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “offertory” in English
Rare enough to double-check
offertory is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɒfət(ə)ɹi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for offertory, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Late Latin offertorium, from the participle stem of offere (“to offer”). The correct English form is offertory, spelled O-F-F-E-R-T-O-R-Y.
Definition
- 1A prayer said or sung as an anthem while offerings of bread and wine are placed on the altar during the Roman Catholic Mass or the Anglican Communion service.
- 2The part of the Eucharist service when offerings of bread and wine are placed on the altar and when any collection is taken; also, the money or other things collected.
- 3A linen or silken cloth anciently used in various ceremonies connected with the administration of the Eucharist.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how offertory appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
There was an impressive musical program, conducted by Sheldon Smeeth, educational director of the Y.M.C.A., who also sang the offertory.
Before a month had passed the congregation at the evening service at St. Asaph's Church was so slender that the offertory, as Mr. Furlong senior himself calculated, was scarcely sufficient to pay the overhead charge of collecting it.
Etymology
From Late Latin offertorium, from the participle stem of offere (“to offer”).
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.