practicum

/ˈpɹæk.tɪ.kəm/

//ˈpɹæk.tɪ.kəm// noun

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

"practicum" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“practicum” is uncommon English (frequency #67,745 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#67,745
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A college course designed to give a student supervised practical knowledge of a subject previously studied theoretically.

Corpus desk

Index EN-practicum · practicum · English

practicum · rank #67,745 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #67,745
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH preceptor

Nearest frequency peer: preceptor (+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 “practicum”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for practicum
PropertyValue
Headwordpracticum
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpɹæk.tɪ.kəm/
Letters9
Frequency rank#67,745
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “practicum” 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).practicumfalls 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: “preceptor” (#67,746), “postsynaptic” (#67,743), “pressurization” (#67,749). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “practicum” is #67,745. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

practicum is uncommon English at frequency #67,745 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpɹæk.tɪ.kəm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for practicum, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from German Praktikum, a coinage from the neuter of Late Latin practicus (“practical”), from Ancient Greek πρακτικός (praktikós, “of or pertaining to action, concerned with action or business, active, practical”), from πράσσω (prássō, “I do”). The correct English form is practicum, spelled P-R-A-C-T-I-C-U-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    A college course designed to give a student supervised practical knowledge of a subject previously studied theoretically.
  2. 2
    A science exam in which students are questioned about specimens or other objects placed in front of them.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Eromin has provided clinical practicum placements for students seeking advanced degrees in social service professions.

Etymology

Borrowed from German Praktikum, a coinage from the neuter of Late Latin practicus (“practical”), from Ancient Greek πρακτικός (praktikós, “of or pertaining to action, concerned with action or business, active, practical”), from πράσσω (prássō, “I do”).

Synonyms

work placementfield

This word in other languages

práctica(Español)travaux pratiques(Français)Praktikum(Deutsch)

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 "practicum"?
"practicum" is spelled P-R-A-C-T-I-C-U-M. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɹæk.tɪ.kəm/.
What does "practicum" mean?
As a noun, "practicum" means: A college course designed to give a student supervised practical knowledge of a subject previously studied theoretically.
How do you pronounce "practicum"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "practicum" is /ˈpɹæk.tɪ.kəm/. 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 "practicum"?
Borrowed from German Praktikum, a coinage from the neuter of Late Latin practicus (“practical”), from Ancient Greek πρακτικός (praktikós, “of or pertaining to action, concerned with action or business, active, practical”), from πράσσω (prássō, “I ... 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 "practicum", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

preceptor#67,746outrigger#67,709redaction#67,782refectory#67,787

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list