oncost
"oncost" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“oncost” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Additional costs; extra expenses.
Corpus desk
Index EN-oncost · oncost · English
oncost · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 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 | oncost |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “oncost” in English
Rare enough to double-check
oncost is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for oncost in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From on- + cost, or from Middle English uncost (“additional expense”), from Middle Dutch oncost (“expenses, overhead”) (Modern Dutch onkost), equivalent to un- + cost. Cognate with German Unkost (“expenses”). The correct English form is oncost, spelled O-N-C-O-S-T.
Definition
- 1Additional costs; extra expenses.
- 2Overhead (expense)
- 3The cost of upkeep, making and maintaining shafts, roads, pumping, etc.
- 4The indirect expenditure incurred for the purpose of increasing the productive power of organised labour.
Etymology
From on- + cost, or from Middle English uncost (“additional expense”), from Middle Dutch oncost (“expenses, overhead”) (Modern Dutch onkost), equivalent to un- + cost. Cognate with German Unkost (“expenses”).
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.