recitative
/ɹɛsɪtəˈtiːv/
"recitative" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“recitative” is uncommon English (frequency #76,258 among 21,470 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #76,258
- frequency rank, English
- 21,470
- “R” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - dialogue, in an opera etc, that, rather than being sung as an aria, is reproduced with the rhythms of normal speech, often with simple musical accompaniment or harpsichord continuo, serving to expo...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | recitative |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɹɛsɪtəˈtiːv/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #76,258 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “recitative” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
recitative is uncommon English at frequency #76,258 among 21,470 “R” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɹɛsɪtəˈtiːv/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "dialogue, in an opera etc, that, rather than being sung as an aria, is reproduced with the rhythms of normal speech, often with simple musical accompaniment or harpsichord continuo, serving to expo...".
No generated misspelling entries exist for recitative in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Italian recitativo, from recitare, from Latin recitō. The correct English form is recitative, spelled R-E-C-I-T-A-T-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1dialogue, in an opera etc, that, rather than being sung as an aria, is reproduced with the rhythms of normal speech, often with simple musical accompaniment or harpsichord continuo, serving to expound the plot.
Etymology
From Italian recitativo, from recitare, from Latin recitō.
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); 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 “recitative”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-C-I-T-A-T-I-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɹɛsɪtəˈtiːv/ (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.