rachitic
/ɹəˈkɪtɪk/
"rachitic" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“rachitic” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of or pertaining to, or affected by, rickets (“a disorder of infancy and early childhood due to a deficiency of vitamin D, causing soft or weak bones”).
Corpus desk
Index EN-rachitic · rachitic · English
rachitic · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "R" 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | rachitic |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ɹəˈkɪtɪk/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “rachitic” in English
Rare enough to double-check
rachitic is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ɹəˈkɪtɪk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for rachitic in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From rachitis (“rickets”) + -ic (suffix forming adjectives from nouns with the sense ‘of or pertaining to’), possibly modelled after French rachitique or Late Latin rachiticus. Rachitis is an unadapted borrowing from New Latin rachitis, used by the British … The correct English form is rachitic, spelled R-A-C-H-I-T-I-C.
Definition
- 1Of or pertaining to, or affected by, rickets (“a disorder of infancy and early childhood due to a deficiency of vitamin D, causing soft or weak bones”).
- 2In a precarious or weak condition; likely to break down or collapse; feeble, rickety.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how rachitic appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Nor was there time to do much more than distribute some sweet to the pallid rachitic children.
His companions—now I could see them as well. […] Tiny, nocturnal, twittering, they were like rachitic children, and as one went past me I saw mongoloid features and a bald head.
Etymology
From rachitis (“rickets”) + -ic (suffix forming adjectives from nouns with the sense ‘of or pertaining to’), possibly modelled after French rachitique or Late Latin rachiticus. Rachitis is an unadapted borrowing from New Latin rachitis, used by the British physician Francis Glisson (1597–1677) to refer to rickets, from Koine Greek ῥαχῖτις (rhakhîtis) (in ῥαχῖτις νόσος (rhakhîtis nósos, “spinal inflammation”, literally “spinal disease”)), the feminine form of ῥαχίτης (rhakhítēs, “in or of the spine, spinal”), from Ancient Greek ῥάχῐς (rhákhĭs, “lower part of the back; (anatomy) backbone, spine”) (probably ultimately Pre-Greek) + -ῖτις (-îtis) (feminine form of -ῑ́της (-ī́tēs, suffix forming nouns with the sense ‘one connected to’)). By surface analysis, rach- + -itic.
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.