recto
/ˈɹɛk.toʊ/
"recto" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“recto” is an uncommon English word, ranked #71,838 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #71,838
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The front side of a flat object which is to be examined visually, as for reading, such as a sheet, leaf, coin or medal.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | recto |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɹɛk.toʊ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #71,838 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “recto” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for recto is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɹɛk.toʊ/. Corpus data places it at rank #71,838 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.
No misspelling variants are generated for recto in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin rēctō foliō (“on the right leaf, on the right page”), the ablative case of the Latin rēctus (“right”). Compare versus (“turned”). The correct English form is recto, spelled R-E-C-T-O.
Definition
- 1The front side of a flat object which is to be examined visually, as for reading, such as a sheet, leaf, coin or medal.
- 2The front side of a flat object which is to be examined visually, as for reading, such as a sheet, leaf, coin or medal.
- 3A writ of right.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin rēctō foliō (“on the right leaf, on the right page”), the ablative case of the Latin rēctus (“right”). Compare versus (“turned”).
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 “recto”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-C-T-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɹɛk.toʊ/ (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
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.