polenta

/pəˈlɛntə/

//pəˈlɛntə// noun

"polenta" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“polenta” is uncommon English (frequency #51,321 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#51,321
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of various types and consistencies of a starchy accompaniment to a meal made from coarse maize-meal porridge, sometimes fried or grilled.

Corpus desk

Index EN-polenta · polenta · English

polenta · rank #51,321 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #51,321
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH polygamous

Nearest frequency peer: polygamous (+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 “polenta”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “polenta” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for polenta
PropertyValue
Headwordpolenta
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pəˈlɛntə/
Letters7
Frequency rank#51,321
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “polenta” in English

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

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “polygamous” (#51,322), “pitfall” (#51,319), “powerlessness” (#51,323). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “polenta” is #51,321. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

polenta is uncommon English at frequency #51,321 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /pəˈlɛntə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Any of various types and consistencies of a starchy accompaniment to a meal made from coarse maize-meal porridge, sometimes fried or grilled.".

polenta has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Italian polenta. The correct English form is polenta, spelled P-O-L-E-N-T-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of various types and consistencies of a starchy accompaniment to a meal made from coarse maize-meal porridge, sometimes fried or grilled.

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian polenta.

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 "polenta"?
"polenta" is spelled P-O-L-E-N-T-A. The IPA pronunciation is /pəˈlɛntə/.
What does "polenta" mean?
As a noun, "polenta" means: Any of various types and consistencies of a starchy accompaniment to a meal made from coarse maize-meal porridge, sometimes fried or grilled.
How do you pronounce "polenta"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "polenta" is /pəˈlɛntə/. 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 "polenta"?
Borrowed from Italian polenta. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "polenta", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list