phonological word

noun

"phonological-word" is a 16-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“phonological word” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
17
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A phonological item, higher in the phonological hierarchy than the syllable and the foot but lower than the intonational phrase and the phonological phrase.

Corpus desk

Index EN-phonological-word · phonological word · English

phonological word · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 17 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.

Key facts for phonological word
PropertyValue
Headwordphonological word
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters17
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “phonological word” in English

phonological wordranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

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

Rare enough to double-check

phonological word is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A phonological item, higher in the phonological hierarchy than the syllable and the foot but lower than the intonational phrase and the phonological phrase.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for phonological word in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. 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.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is phonological word, spelled P-H-O-N-O-L-O-G-I-C-A-L- -W-O-R-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    A phonological item, higher in the phonological hierarchy than the syllable and the foot but lower than the intonational phrase and the phonological phrase.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how phonological word appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Coordinate term: grammatical word

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 "phonological word"?
"phonological word" is spelled P-H-O-N-O-L-O-G-I-C-A-L- -W-O-R-D.
What does "phonological word" mean?
As a noun, "phonological word" means: A phonological item, higher in the phonological hierarchy than the syllable and the foot but lower than the intonational phrase and the phonological phrase.
What language does "phonological word" come from?
"phonological word" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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