rectilinear
/ˌɹɛktɪˈlɪniɚ/
"rectilinear" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“rectilinear” is uncommon English (frequency #72,701 among 21,470 “R” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #72,701
- frequency rank, English
- 21,470
- “R” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - In a straight line.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | rectilinear |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˌɹɛktɪˈlɪniɚ/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #72,701 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “rectilinear” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
rectilinear is uncommon English at frequency #72,701 among 21,470 “R” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˌɹɛktɪˈlɪniɚ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for rectilinear in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From post-Classical Latin; either from rectilīneāris or from rectilīneus (whence rectiline) + -ar, in both cases ultimately deriving from rectus (“straight”) + līnea (“line”). The correct English form is rectilinear, spelled R-E-C-T-I-L-I-N-E-A-R.
Definition
- 1In a straight line.
- 2Formed from straight lines.
Etymology
From post-Classical Latin; either from rectilīneāris or from rectilīneus (whence rectiline) + -ar, in both cases ultimately deriving from rectus (“straight”) + līnea (“line”).
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 “rectilinear”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-C-T-I-L-I-N-E-A-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌɹɛktɪˈlɪniɚ/ (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.