pantograph
/ˈpantəɡɹɑːf/
"pantograph" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pantograph” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A mechanical linkage based on parallelograms causing two objects to move in parallel; notably as a drawing aid.
Corpus desk
Index EN-pantograph · pantograph · English
pantograph · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" 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 | pantograph |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpantəɡɹɑːf/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “pantograph” in English
Rare enough to double-check
pantograph is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpantəɡɹɑːf/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for pantograph in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French pantographe, from panto- (from Ancient Greek παντός (pantós), genitive singular of πᾶν (pân, “all”)), and -graphe (from γράφειν (gráphein, “to write”)). The correct English form is pantograph, spelled P-A-N-T-O-G-R-A-P-H.
Definition
- 1A mechanical linkage based on parallelograms causing two objects to move in parallel; notably as a drawing aid.
- 2By extension, a structure of crosswise bars linked in such a way that it can extend and compress like an accordion, such as in a pantograph mirror or a scissor lift.
- 3A pattern printed on a document to reduce the ease of photocopying.
- 4A similarly-formed conductive device, now usually Z-shaped, that collects electric current from overhead lines for trains and trams.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how pantograph appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
A pantograph can be adjusted to make either scaled or exact copies.
I was impressed by the quality of the pantograph; I hadn't noticed it on the original, but the copies were covered in unpleasant lines.
Etymology
From French pantographe, from panto- (from Ancient Greek παντός (pantós), genitive singular of πᾶν (pân, “all”)), and -graphe (from γράφειν (gráphein, “to write”)).
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.