proselyte

/ˈpɹɒsəlaɪt/

//ˈpɹɒsəlaɪt// noun

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

The verdict

“proselyte” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - One who has converted to a religion or doctrine, especially a gentile converted to Judaism.

Corpus desk

Index EN-proselyte · proselyte · English

proselyte · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "P" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for proselyte
PropertyValue
Headwordproselyte
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpɹɒsəlaɪt/
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “proselyte” in English

proselytesits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

proselyte is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpɹɒsəlaɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "One who has converted to a religion or doctrine, especially a gentile converted to Judaism.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for proselyte, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Old French proselite, from Late Latin proselytus (“proselyte, alien resident”), from Ancient Greek προσήλυτος (prosḗlutos, “newcomer, convert”) (from πρός (prós, “to, towards”) and the stem -ηλυ- of ἐλήλυθα (elḗlutha), perfect of ἔρχομαι (érkhomai, “co… The correct English form is proselyte, spelled P-R-O-S-E-L-Y-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    One who has converted to a religion or doctrine, especially a gentile converted to Judaism.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
  2. That evening the young nun lay exhausted between life and death in a brain fever, while all Naples was ringing with the faith, beauty, and fervour of the English proselyte.

Etymology

From Old French proselite, from Late Latin proselytus (“proselyte, alien resident”), from Ancient Greek προσήλυτος (prosḗlutos, “newcomer, convert”) (from πρός (prós, “to, towards”) and the stem -ηλυ- of ἐλήλυθα (elḗlutha), perfect of ἔρχομαι (érkhomai, “come”)), translation of Hebrew גר (ger) in the Septuagint translation of the Torah (e.g., Exodus 12:49); also used in Matthew 23:15, Acts 2:10, Acts 6:5.

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "proselyte"?
"proselyte" is spelled P-R-O-S-E-L-Y-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɹɒsəlaɪt/.
What does "proselyte" mean?
As a noun, "proselyte" means: One who has converted to a religion or doctrine, especially a gentile converted to Judaism.
How do you pronounce "proselyte"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "proselyte" is /ˈpɹɒsəlaɪt/. 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 "proselyte"?
From Old French proselite, from Late Latin proselytus (“proselyte, alien resident”), from Ancient Greek προσήλυτος (prosḗlutos, “newcomer, convert”) (from πρός (prós, “to, towards”) and the stem -ηλυ- of ἐλήλυθα (elḗlutha), perfect of ἔρχομαι (érk... 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list