recommence

verb

"recommence" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“recommence” is uncommon English (frequency #88,767 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#88,767
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To begin again.

Corpus desk

Index EN-recommence · recommence · English

recommence · rank #88,767 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #88,767
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH recertificati…

Nearest frequency peer: recertification (-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 “recommence”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for recommence
PropertyValue
Headwordrecommence
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters10
Frequency rank#88,767
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “recommence” 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).recommencefalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “recertification” (#88,766), “reconquest” (#88,769), “reassembly” (#88,764). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “recommence” is #88,767. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

recommence is uncommon English at frequency #88,767 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To begin again.".

recommence has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French recommencer, from Old French recommencier. The correct English form is recommence, spelled R-E-C-O-M-M-E-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To begin again.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The struggle with ways and means had recommenced, more difficult now a hundredfold than it had been before, because of their increasing needs.
  2. [...] Prosser was instrumental in the decision in 2010 to recommence publication of an annual health and safety report, following a period when it had fallen into abeyance.

Etymology

From Middle French recommencer, from Old French recommencier.

Synonyms

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

How do you spell "recommence"?
"recommence" is spelled R-E-C-O-M-M-E-N-C-E.
What does "recommence" mean?
As a verb, "recommence" means: To begin again.
What is the origin of the word "recommence"?
From Middle French recommencer, from Old French recommencier. 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 "recommence", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list