reck

/ɹɛk/

//ɹɛk// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"reck" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“reck” is uncommon English (frequency #81,751 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#81,751
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To take account of (someone or something); to care for; to consider, to heed, to regard.

Corpus desk

Index EN-reck · reck · English

reck · rank #81,751 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #81,751
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH recode

Nearest frequency peer: recode (+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.

Long-tail ranks near “reck”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “reck” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for reck
PropertyValue
Headwordreck
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ɹɛk/
Letters4
Frequency rank#81,751
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “reck” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).reckfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “recode” (#81,752), “recut” (#81,754), “reddened” (#81,755). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “reck” is #81,751. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

reck is uncommon English at frequency #81,751 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ɹɛk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 6 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for reck in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable 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 Middle English recken, rekken, reken, from Old Norse rœkja (compare Old English rēċċan, rēċan (“to care, reck, take care of, be interested in, care for, desire”); whence English retch), from Proto-Germanic *rōkijaną (“to care, take care”), from Proto-I… The correct English form is reck, spelled R-E-C-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    To take account of (someone or something); to care for; to consider, to heed, to regard.
  2. 2
    To want (to do something); to desire to, to be inclined to, to care to.
  3. 3
    To know about, to know of, to be aware of.
  4. 4
    To reckon, to consider, to regard (someone or something) as.
  5. 5
    To concern (someone); to be important or of interest to; to matter.
  6. 6
    To concern oneself, to trouble oneself.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how reck appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Do not, as some ungracious pastors do, / Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven, / Whiles, like a puffed and reckless libertine, / Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads, / And recks not his own rede.
  2. […]with that care lost / went all his fear: of God, or hell, or worse / he recked not[…]

Etymology

From Middle English recken, rekken, reken, from Old Norse rœkja (compare Old English rēċċan, rēċan (“to care, reck, take care of, be interested in, care for, desire”); whence English retch), from Proto-Germanic *rōkijaną (“to care, take care”), from Proto-Indo-European *rēǵ-, *rēg- (“to care, help”). Cognate with obsolete Dutch roeken, Low German roken, ruken (“to reck, care”), German geruhen (“to deign, condescend”), Icelandic rækja (“to care, regard, discharge”), Danish røgte (“to care, tend”), Swedish rykta (“to groom”). See reckon.

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 "reck"?
"reck" is spelled R-E-C-K. The IPA pronunciation is /ɹɛk/.
What does "reck" mean?
As a verb, "reck" means: To take account of (someone or something); to care for; to consider, to heed, to regard.
How do you pronounce "reck"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "reck" is /ɹɛk/. 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 "reck"?
From Middle English recken, rekken, reken, from Old Norse rœkja (compare Old English rēċċan, rēċan (“to care, reck, take care of, be interested in, care for, desire”); whence English retch), from Proto-Germanic *rōkijaną (“to care, take care”), fr... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "reck", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Radi#81,736Rion#81,769roid#81,776Sabe#81,789

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list