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rally

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

5 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "rally", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "rally" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "rally" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

rally is aEnglishnoun. It means: A public gathering or mass meeting that is not mainly a protest and is organized to inspire enthusiasm for a cause. Pronounced /ˈɹæli/. It ranks #4,041 in English word frequency. Often confused with ray and rly.

Key facts for rally
PropertyValue
Headwordrally
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɹæli/
Letters5
Frequency rank#4,041
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of rally in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for rally is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɹæli/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,041 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 6 documented wrong-spelling variants for rally, with forms such as "arlly", "rallyy", and "raly". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ray", "rly", "roll", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French rallier (French rallier), from Old French ralier, from Latin prefix re- + ad + ligare (“to bind; to ally”). Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is rally, spelled R-A-L-L-Y, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A public gathering or mass meeting that is not mainly a protest and is organized to inspire enthusiasm for a cause.
  2. 2
    A protest or demonstration for or against something, but often with speeches and often without marching, especially in North America.
  3. 3
    A sequence of strokes between serving and scoring a point.
  4. 4
    An event in which competitors drive through a series of timed special stages at intervals. The winner is the driver who completes all stages with the shortest cumulative time.
  5. 5
    A recovery after a decline in prices (said of the market, stocks, etc.)

Etymology

From Middle French rallier (French rallier), from Old French ralier, from Latin prefix re- + ad + ligare (“to bind; to ally”).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: arlly,rallyy,raly,ralyl,rlaly,rrally

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for rally

Misspelling Variants of "rally"

arlly5rallyy6raly4ralyl5rlaly5rrally6
Misspelling Variants of "rally"

Frequency rank: #4,041 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "rally"?
"rally" is spelled R-A-L-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɹæli/.
What does "rally" mean?
As a noun, "rally" means: A public gathering or mass meeting that is not mainly a protest and is organized to inspire enthusiasm for a cause.
What words are commonly confused with "rally"?
"rally" is commonly confused with "ray", "rly", "roll". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "rally"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "rally" is /ˈɹæli/. 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 "rally"?
From Middle French rallier (French rallier), from Old French ralier, from Latin prefix re- + ad + ligare (“to bind; to ally”). 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter R in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.