refectory
/ɹɪˈfɛkt(ə)ɹi/
"refectory" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“refectory” is uncommon English (frequency #67,787 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #67,787
- frequency rank, English
- 3,094
- “R” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A dining hall, especially in an institution such as a college or monastery.
Corpus desk
Index EN-refectory · refectory · English
refectory · rank #67,787 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #67,787
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,094
- PHOTO-FINISH redolent
Nearest frequency peer: redolent (-2 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 “refectory”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- redaction
redaction
32,219 corpus weight
- redden
redden
32,218 corpus weight
- redid
redid
32,217 corpus weight
- redolent
redolent
32,216 corpus weight
- refectory
refectory
32,214 corpus weight
- reverberate
reverberate
32,208 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “refectory” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | refectory |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɹɪˈfɛkt(ə)ɹi/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #67,787 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “refectory” in English
Rare enough to double-check
refectory is uncommon English at frequency #67,787 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɹɪˈfɛkt(ə)ɹi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A dining hall, especially in an institution such as a college or monastery.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for refectory, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: Via Middle English refectori from Late Latin refectorium, from Latin reficere (“to remake, to rebuild”). The correct English form is refectory, spelled R-E-F-E-C-T-O-R-Y.
Definition
- 1A dining hall, especially in an institution such as a college or monastery.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how refectory appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
They compare very well with similar cafes elsewhere and the quality, for example, is far better and the price cheaper than in my college refectory.
With a clattering of chairs, upended shell cases, benches, and ottomans, Pirate's mob gather at the shores of the great refectory table, a southern island well across a tropic or two from chill Croydon.
Etymology
Via Middle English refectori from Late Latin refectorium, from Latin reficere (“to remake, to rebuild”).
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "refectory", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).