proscription
/pɹəˈskɹɪp.ʃən/
"proscription" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“proscription” is uncommon English (frequency #97,460 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #97,460
- frequency rank, English
- 4,417
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A prohibition.
Corpus desk
Index EN-proscription · proscription · English
proscription · rank #97,460 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #97,460
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH propensities
Nearest frequency peer: propensities (-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 “proscription”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- prerelease
prerelease
2,544 corpus weight
- primero
primero
2,543 corpus weight
- propensities
propensities
2,542 corpus weight
- proscription
proscription
2,541 corpus weight
- pshh
pshh
2,538 corpus weight
- pufferfish
pufferfish
2,537 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “proscription” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | proscription |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /pɹəˈskɹɪp.ʃən/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Frequency rank | #97,460 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “proscription” in English
Rare enough to double-check
proscription is uncommon English at frequency #97,460 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /pɹəˈskɹɪp.ʃən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for proscription, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English proscripcion, from Latin prōscrīptiō, from prōscrībō (originally "publish in writing"), from prō- and scrībō (“write”). The correct English form is proscription, spelled P-R-O-S-C-R-I-P-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1A prohibition.
- 2Decree of condemnation toward one or more persons, especially in the Roman antiquity.
- 3The act of proscribing, or its result.
- 4A decree or law that prohibits.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how proscription appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
He was wholly unopposed, for the boldest spirits had fallen in battle, or in the proscription [...]
Etymology
From Middle English proscripcion, from Latin prōscrīptiō, from prōscrībō (originally "publish in writing"), from prō- and scrībō (“write”).
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "proscription", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 12 letters (nearest by frequency rank).