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posture

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

7 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "posture", 7-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "posture" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "posture" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

posture is aEnglishnoun. It means: The way a person holds and positions their body. Pronounced /ˈpɒst͡ʃə/. Often confused with poster and picture.

Key facts for posture
PropertyValue
Headwordposture
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpɒst͡ʃə/
Letters7
Frequency rank#12,123
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of posture in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for posture is 7 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpɒst͡ʃə/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,123 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 10 documented wrong-spelling variants for posture, with forms such as "opsture", "possture", and "postrue". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "poster", "picture", "postage", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French posture, from Italian postura, from Latin positūra (“position, situation”). Doublet of positura. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is posture, spelled P-O-S-T-U-R-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    The way a person holds and positions their body.
  2. 2
    A situation or condition.
  3. 3
    One's attitude or the social or political position one takes towards an issue or another person.
  4. 4
    The position of someone or something relative to another; position; situation.

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French posture, from Italian postura, from Latin positūra (“position, situation”). Doublet of positura.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: opsture,possture,postrue,postture,postuer,posturre,posutre,potsure,pposture,psoture

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for posture

Misspelling Variants of "posture"

opsture7possture8postrue7postture8postuer7posturre8posutre7potsure7
Misspelling Variants of "posture"

Frequency rank: #12,123 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "posture"?
"posture" is spelled P-O-S-T-U-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɒst͡ʃə/.
What does "posture" mean?
As a noun, "posture" means: The way a person holds and positions their body.
What words are commonly confused with "posture"?
"posture" is commonly confused with "poster", "picture", "postage". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "posture"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "posture" is /ˈpɒst͡ʃə/. 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 "posture"?
Borrowed from Middle French posture, from Italian postura, from Latin positūra (“position, situation”). Doublet of positura. 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter P in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.