quadrille

/kwɒdˈɹɪl/

//kwɒdˈɹɪl// noun

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

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

The verdict

“quadrille” is uncommon English (frequency #88,753 among 288 “Q” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#88,753
frequency rank, English
288
“Q” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A dance originating in the mid-1700s with four couples forming a square, rather much like the modern square dance.

Corpus desk

Index EN-quadrille · quadrille · English

quadrille · rank #88,753 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #88,753
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 288
  • PHOTO-FINISH quiff

Nearest frequency peer: quiff (+2 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 “quadrille”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for quadrille
PropertyValue
Headwordquadrille
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kwɒdˈɹɪl/
Letters9
Frequency rank#88,753
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “quadrille” 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).quadrillefalls 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: “quiff” (#88,755), “pushup” (#88,750), “quintal” (#88,756). Among 288 “Q” headwords, “quadrille” is #88,753. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

quadrille is uncommon English at frequency #88,753 among 288 “Q” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /kwɒdˈɹɪl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for quadrille, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. 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: French, in sense of “group of knights”, from Spanish cuadrilla, diminutive of cuadra (“square”) (compare also cuadra (“four”)), from Latin quadra. The correct English form is quadrille, spelled Q-U-A-D-R-I-L-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A dance originating in the mid-1700s with four couples forming a square, rather much like the modern square dance.
  2. 2
    The music for this dance.
  3. 3
    A Spanish trick-taking card game from the 1700s played with a 40-card deck.
  4. 4
    A choreographed dressage ride, commonly performed to music, with a minimum of four horses.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The movements of the other women were more or less similar to Tess's, the whole bevy of them drawing together like dancers in a quadrille at the completion of a sheaf by each, every one placing her sheaf on end against those of the rest, till a shock, or 'stitch' as it was here called, of ten or a dozen was formed.
  2. There was ol' Mickey Coote Who played hard on his flute When the ladies lined up for a set He was tootin' with skill For each sparkling quadrille Though the dancers were fluther'd and bet

Etymology

French, in sense of “group of knights”, from Spanish cuadrilla, diminutive of cuadra (“square”) (compare also cuadra (“four”)), from Latin quadra.

This word in other languages

cuadrilla(Español)quadrille(Français)Quadrille(Deutsch)quadrilha(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 "quadrille"?
"quadrille" is spelled Q-U-A-D-R-I-L-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /kwɒdˈɹɪl/.
What does "quadrille" mean?
As a noun, "quadrille" means: A dance originating in the mid-1700s with four couples forming a square, rather much like the modern square dance.
How do you pronounce "quadrille"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "quadrille" is /kwɒdˈɹɪl/. 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 "quadrille"?
French, in sense of “group of knights”, from Spanish cuadrilla, diminutive of cuadra (“square”) (compare also cuadra (“four”)), from Latin quadra. 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 "quadrille", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

polyhedra#88,722philately#88,709pharaonic#88,708scintilla#88,826

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list