pentameter
/pɛnˈtæmɪtə(ɹ)/
"pentameter" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pentameter” is uncommon English (frequency #78,932 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #78,932
- frequency rank, English
- 4,417
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A line in a poem having five metrical feet.
Corpus desk
Index EN-pentameter · pentameter · English
pentameter · rank #78,932 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #78,932
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH pentobarbital
Nearest frequency peer: pentobarbital (+1 rank slots)
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.
Long-tail ranks near “pentameter”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Peekskill
Peekskill
21,073 corpus weight
- Peloponnese
Peloponnese
21,072 corpus weight
- Pendergast
Pendergast
21,071 corpus weight
- pentameter
pentameter
21,069 corpus weight
- pentobarbit…
pentobarbital
21,068 corpus weight
- personalise
personalise
21,066 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “pentameter” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pentameter |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /pɛnˈtæmɪtə(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #78,932 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “pentameter” in English
Rare enough to double-check
pentameter is uncommon English at frequency #78,932 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /pɛnˈtæmɪtə(ɹ)/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for pentameter, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *pénkʷe From Middle French pentamètre, by surface analysis, penta- + meter. The correct English form is pentameter, spelled P-E-N-T-A-M-E-T-E-R.
Definition
- 1A line in a poem having five metrical feet.
- 2Poetic metre in which each line has five feet.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how pentameter appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The best verses, more especially pentameters, are written on the principle of attracting and fixing the attention to their close.
Etymology
PIE word *pénkʷe From Middle French pentamètre, by surface analysis, penta- + meter.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "pentameter", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).