pendentive

noun

"pendentive" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“pendentive” 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) - The concave triangular sections of vaulting that provide the transition between a dome and the square base on which it is set and transfer the weight of the dome.

Corpus desk

Index EN-pendentive · pendentive · English

pendentive · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 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.

Key facts for pendentive
PropertyValue
Headwordpendentive
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “pendentive” in English

pendentivesits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

pendentive is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The concave triangular sections of vaulting that provide the transition between a dome and the square base on which it is set and transfer the weight of the dome.".

pendentive doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French pendentif. The correct English form is pendentive, spelled P-E-N-D-E-N-T-I-V-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The concave triangular sections of vaulting that provide the transition between a dome and the square base on which it is set and transfer the weight of the dome.

Etymology

From French pendentif.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "pendentive"?
"pendentive" is spelled P-E-N-D-E-N-T-I-V-E.
What does "pendentive" mean?
As a noun, "pendentive" means: The concave triangular sections of vaulting that provide the transition between a dome and the square base on which it is set and transfer the weight of the dome.
What is the origin of the word "pendentive"?
From French pendentif. 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list