petard
/pɪˈtɑːd/
"petard" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“petard” is uncommon English (frequency #97,432 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #97,432
- frequency rank, English
- 4,417
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A small, hat-shaped explosive device, used to breach a door or wall.
Corpus desk
Index EN-petard · petard · English
petard · rank #97,432 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #97,432
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH Pescara
Nearest frequency peer: Pescara (-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 “petard”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- pedes
pedes
2,576 corpus weight
- penge
penge
2,575 corpus weight
- Pense
Pense
2,573 corpus weight
- Pescara
Pescara
2,570 corpus weight
- petard
petard
2,569 corpus weight
- Phaedrus
Phaedrus
2,566 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “petard” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | petard |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /pɪˈtɑːd/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #97,432 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “petard” in English
Rare enough to double-check
petard is uncommon English at frequency #97,432 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /pɪˈtɑːd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
petard doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. 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: From Middle French petard; see Modern French pétard (“firecracker”). The correct English form is petard, spelled P-E-T-A-R-D.
Definition
- 1A small, hat-shaped explosive device, used to breach a door or wall.
- 2Anything potentially explosive, in a non-literal sense.
- 3A loud firecracker.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how petard appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
For tis the ſport to haue the enginer / Hoiſt with his ovvne petar, an't ſhall goe hard / But I vvill delue one yard belovve their mines, / And blovve them at the Moone: […]
[…] Pipes, who acted as the enemy's forlorn hope, advanced to the gate with great intrepidity, and clapping his foot to the door, which was none of the ſtouteſt, with the execution and diſpatch of a petard, ſplit it into a thouſand pieces.
Etymology
From Middle French petard; see Modern French pétard (“firecracker”).
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 "petard", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).