Rafah
/ˈɹɑːfə/
"rafah" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Rafah” is uncommon English (frequency #65,436 among 21,470 “R” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #65,436
- frequency rank, English
- 21,470
- “R” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Several places in Gaza.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Rafah |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈɹɑːfə/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #65,436 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Rafah” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Rafah is uncommon English at frequency #65,436 among 21,470 “R” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ˈɹɑːfə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 7 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for Rafah in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Arabic رَفَح (rafaḥ), from Ancient Greek Ῥαφία (Rhaphía), from Egyptian rpwḥw r:Z1-p-w-bH:mDAt-xAst The correct English form is Rafah, spelled R-A-F-A-H.
Definition
- 1Several places in Gaza.
- 2Several places in Gaza.
- 3Several places in Gaza.
- 4Several places in Gaza.
- 5A city in North Sinai governate, Sinai, Egypt, lying next to the eponymous city in Gaza.
- 6Ellipsis of Rafah Crossing: a border gate on the Egypt, — Gaza, Palestine, border in Rafah city.
- 7A city in Egypt and Gaza, Palestine, split by an international border, each half a city in their own right, as well.
Etymology
From Arabic رَفَح (rafaḥ), from Ancient Greek Ῥαφία (Rhaphía), from Egyptian rpwḥw r:Z1-p-w-bH:mDAt-xAst
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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Using “Rafah”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-A-F-A-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɹɑːfə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.