recorder
/ɹiˈkɔː.də/
"recorder" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“recorder” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #11,096 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #11,096
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 6
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An apparatus for recording; a device which records.
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 | recorder |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɹiˈkɔː.də/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #11,096 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 6 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “recorder” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for recorder is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹiˈkɔː.də/. Corpus data places it at rank #11,096 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for recorder, with forms such as "ercorder", "rceorder", and "reccorder". 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 6 confusable-pair relationships, "records", "recover", "reporter", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English recordour, borrowed from Old French recordour, from Old French recordeor, from Medieval Latin recordātor, from Latin recordor (“call to mind, remember, recollect”), from re- (“back, again”) + cor (“heart; mind”). By surface analysis, rec… The correct English form is recorder, spelled R-E-C-O-R-D-E-R.
Definition
- 1An apparatus for recording; a device which records.
- 2Agent noun of record; one who records.
- 3A judge in a municipal court.
Etymology
From Middle English recordour, borrowed from Old French recordour, from Old French recordeor, from Medieval Latin recordātor, from Latin recordor (“call to mind, remember, recollect”), from re- (“back, again”) + cor (“heart; mind”). By surface analysis, record + -er.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ercorder,rceorder,reccorder,recodrer,recordder,recorderr,recordre,recoredr,recorrder,recroder,reocrder,rrecorder
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of recorder - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "recorder"?
What does "recorder" mean?
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Using “recorder”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-C-O-R-D-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɹiˈkɔː.də/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “records” - see the side-by-side comparison. recorder vs records
- 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.