rapier
/ˈɹeɪpˌɪə(ɹ)/
"rapier" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“rapier” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #48,443. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #48,443
- frequency rank, English
- 3,094
- “R” headwords
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 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
Corpus desk
Index EN-rapier · rapier · English
rapier · rank #48,443 · 8 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #48,443
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 8 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,094
- PHOTO-FINISH ravage
Nearest frequency peer: ravage (+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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “rapier”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- raglan
raglan
51,562 corpus weight
- rapier
rapier
51,558 corpus weight
- ravage
ravage
51,557 corpus weight
- readjust
readjust
51,556 corpus weight
- reams
reams
51,554 corpus weight
- redirection
redirection
51,553 corpus weight
What this shows “rapier” 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).
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) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “rapier”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 8 spelling variants around rapier (IPA /ˈɹeɪpˌɪə(ɹ)/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #48,443 among 3,094 “R” headwords. Dominant gloss: "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
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how rapier appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
[…] In his lawless fit, Behind the arras hearing something stir, Whips out his rapier, cries ‘A rat, a rat!’ And in this brainish apprehension kills The unseen good old man.
The man beside him with the earrings and the big black case proceeded to unlock it. He took out of it two long Italian rapiers, with splendid steel hilts and blades, which he planted point downwards in the lawn.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "rapier", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).