paterfamilias
"paterfamilias" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“paterfamilias” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A man who is the head of a household, family or tribe.
Corpus desk
Index EN-paterfamilias · paterfamilias · English
paterfamilias · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 13 letters
- VOW-6 6 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 | paterfamilias |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “paterfamilias” in English
Rare enough to double-check
paterfamilias is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A man who is the head of a household, family or tribe.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for paterfamilias, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: (c. 1425 to 1475) From late Middle English paterfamilias, from Latin pater familiās. From Latin pater (“father”) + familiās, archaic genitive of familia (“family; household”). Literally, "father of the family" or "father of the household". The correct English form is paterfamilias, spelled P-A-T-E-R-F-A-M-I-L-I-A-S.
Definition
- 1A man who is the head of a household, family or tribe.
Etymology
(c. 1425 to 1475) From late Middle English paterfamilias, from Latin pater familiās. From Latin pater (“father”) + familiās, archaic genitive of familia (“family; household”). Literally, "father of the family" or "father of the household".
Synonyms
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.