pecuniary

/pɪˈkjuːn(jə)ɹi/

//pɪˈkjuːn(jə)ɹi// adj

"pecuniary" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“pecuniary” is uncommon English (frequency #54,386 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#54,386
frequency rank, English
46,516
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of, or relating to, money; monetary, financial.

Key facts for pecuniary
PropertyValue
Headwordpecuniary
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/pɪˈkjuːn(jə)ɹi/
Letters9
Frequency rank#54,386
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “pecuniary” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). pecuniary lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

pecuniary is uncommon English at frequency #54,386 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /pɪˈkjuːn(jə)ɹi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Of, or relating to, money; monetary, financial.".

pecuniary doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin pecūniārius, from pecūnia (“money”), itself from pecū (“cattle”) and thus related to fee. The correct English form is pecuniary, spelled P-E-C-U-N-I-A-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of, or relating to, money; monetary, financial.

Etymology

From Latin pecūniārius, from pecūnia (“money”), itself from pecū (“cattle”) and thus related to fee.

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

How do you spell "pecuniary"?
"pecuniary" is spelled P-E-C-U-N-I-A-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /pɪˈkjuːn(jə)ɹi/.
What does "pecuniary" mean?
As an adjective, "pecuniary" means: Of, or relating to, money; monetary, financial.
How do you pronounce "pecuniary"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pecuniary" is /pɪˈkjuːn(jə)ɹi/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "pecuniary"?
From Latin pecūniārius, from pecūnia (“money”), itself from pecū (“cattle”) and thus related to fee. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “pecuniary”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is P-E-C-U-N-I-A-R-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /pɪˈkjuːn(jə)ɹi/ (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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list