quarterly

Name: quarterly, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

adj

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“quarterly” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #7,270. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#7,270
frequency rank, English: 288
“Q” headwords: 14
tracked misspellings: 2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Occurring once every quarter year (three months); taking place quarter-yearly.

Corpus desk

Index EN-quarterly · quarterly · English

quarterly · rank #7,270 · 14 variants · 2 confusables

FREQ-COMMON #7,270
LEN-LONG 9 letters
VOW-4 4 vowels
CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
VAR-HIGH 14 variants
BOOK-MID 288
PHOTO-FINISH propose

Nearest frequency peer: propose (-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.

probe

92,735
prohibited

92,734
projected

92,733
propose

92,732
quarterly

92,731
refusing

92,728

What this shows “quarterly” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

quarterly vs quarters

78% similar

quarterly vs quarter

78% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for quarterly
Property	Value
Headword	quarterly
Language	English
Part of speech	Adjective
Letters	9
Frequency rank	#7,270
Misspellings tracked	14
Confusable pairs	2
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “quarterly”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).quarterlylands here:

#7,270

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “propose” (#7,269), “projected” (#7,268), “prohibited” (#7,267). Among 288 “Q” headwords, “quarterly” is #7,270. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around quarterly, anadjective. Corpus frequency is #7,270 among 288 “Q” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for quarterly, with forms such as "qaurterly", "qquarterly", and "quaretrly". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "quarters", "quarter", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From quarter + -ly (adjectival). The correct English form is quarterly, spelled Q-U-A-R-T-E-R-L-Y.

Definition

1
Occurring once every quarter year (three months); taking place quarter-yearly.
2
(of a coat of arms) Divided into four parts crosswise.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

quarterly rent payments
The FBI began publishing national quarterly crime reports last year, but has not done so for the first two quarters of 2021, stating that they require at least 60% of agencies to submit NIBRS data in order to publish quarterly data.

Etymology

From quarter + -ly (adjectival).

This word in other languages

trimestral(Español)trimestriel(Français)vierteljährlich(Deutsch)trimestral(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

qaurterly
qquarterly
quaretrly
quarrterly
quartelry
quarterlly
quarterlyy
quarterrly
quarteryl
quartrely
quartterly
quatrerly
quraterly
uqarterly

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of quarterly - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

Edit distance from "quarterly"

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 "quarterly"?

"quarterly" is spelled Q-U-A-R-T-E-R-L-Y.

What does "quarterly" mean?

As an adjective, "quarterly" means: Occurring once every quarter year (three months); taking place quarter-yearly.

What words are commonly confused with "quarterly"?

"quarterly" is commonly confused with "quarters", "quarter". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

What is the origin of the word "quarterly"?

From quarter + -ly (adjectival). 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 "quarterly", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

projected#7,268 resistant#7,277 Palestine#7,259 negotiate#7,252

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

launching14 variants violations14 variants injection14 variants ancestors14 variants