rapier
/ˈɹeɪpˌɪə(ɹ)/
"rapier" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“rapier” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #48,443 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #48,443
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A slender, straight, sharply pointed sword (double-edged, single-edged or edgeless), designed predominantly for thrusting; used during the Renaissance period of Europe for civilian duelling
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | rapier |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɹeɪpˌɪə(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #48,443 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “rapier” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for rapier is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɹeɪpˌɪə(ɹ)/. Corpus data places it at rank #48,443 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A slender, straight, sharply pointed sword (double-edged, single-edged or edgeless), designed predominantly for thrusting; used during the Renaissance period of Europe for civilian duelling".
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for rapier, with forms such as "arpier", "raiper", and "rapeir". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "roper", "rarer", "razer", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French rapiere, from Middle French (espee) rapiere, from Old French rapiere, raspiere, from Spanish raspadera (“poker; raker; scraper”), from Spanish raspar (“to scrape”), of Germanic origin. More at rasp. The correct English form is rapier, spelled R-A-P-I-E-R.
Definition
- 1A slender, straight, sharply pointed sword (double-edged, single-edged or edgeless), designed predominantly for thrusting; used during the Renaissance period of Europe for civilian duelling
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French rapiere, from Middle French (espee) rapiere, from Old French rapiere, raspiere, from Spanish raspadera (“poker; raker; scraper”), from Spanish raspar (“to scrape”), of Germanic origin. More at rasp.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: arpier,raiper,rapeir,rapierr,rapire,rappier,rpaier,rrapier
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of rapier - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "rapier"?
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Using “rapier”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-A-P-I-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɹeɪpˌɪə(ɹ)/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “roper” - see the side-by-side comparison. rapier vs roper
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.