poultice

/ˈpoʊltɪs/

//ˈpoʊltɪs// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"poultice" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“poultice” is uncommon English (frequency #77,108 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#77,108
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A soft, moist mass, usually wrapped in cloth and warmed, that is applied topically to a sore, aching or lesioned part of the body to soothe it.

Corpus desk

Index EN-poultice · poultice · English

poultice · rank #77,108 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #77,108
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH Porterfield

Nearest frequency peer: Porterfield (-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 “poultice”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for poultice
PropertyValue
Headwordpoultice
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpoʊltɪs/
Letters8
Frequency rank#77,108
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “poultice” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).poulticefalls 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: “Porterfield” (#77,107), “prattle” (#77,109), “pontifex” (#77,105). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “poultice” is #77,108. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

poultice is uncommon English at frequency #77,108 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpoʊltɪs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for poultice, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English pultes, from Latin pultes, plural of puls. The phonological development from Middle English is regular; compare poultry. The correct English form is poultice, spelled P-O-U-L-T-I-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A soft, moist mass, usually wrapped in cloth and warmed, that is applied topically to a sore, aching or lesioned part of the body to soothe it.
  2. 2
    A porous solid filled with solvent, used to remove stains from porous stone such as marble or granite.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The poultice relaxeth the pores.
  2. Sties in the eye are irritating and disfiguring. Foment with warm water; at night apply a bread-and-milk poultice.

Etymology

From Middle English pultes, from Latin pultes, plural of puls. The phonological development from Middle English is regular; compare poultry.

Synonyms

cataplasm

This word in other languages

cataplasma(Español)cataplasme(Français)Wickel(Deutsch)emplastro(Português)

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 "poultice"?
"poultice" is spelled P-O-U-L-T-I-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpoʊltɪs/.
What does "poultice" mean?
As a noun, "poultice" means: A soft, moist mass, usually wrapped in cloth and warmed, that is applied topically to a sore, aching or lesioned part of the body to soothe it.
How do you pronounce "poultice"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "poultice" is /ˈpoʊltɪs/. 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 "poultice"?
From Middle English pultes, from Latin pultes, plural of puls. The phonological development from Middle English is regular; compare poultry. 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 "poultice", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

pontifex#77,105polymath#77,104polisher#77,102Phrygian#77,088

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list