Reticulum

name

"reticulum" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Reticulum” is uncommon English (frequency #52,597 among 21,470 “R” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,597
frequency rank, English
21,470
“R” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A small constellation of the southern summer sky, said to resemble a reticle. It lies between the constellations of Horologium and Dorado.

Key facts for Reticulum
PropertyValue
HeadwordReticulum
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters9
Frequency rank#52,597
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Reticulum” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). Reticulum lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Reticulum is uncommon English at frequency #52,597 among 21,470 “R” headwords, classed as aproper noun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for Reticulum, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Named by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1763. From later Latin rēticulum (“reticle”). The meaning is often wrongly interpreted as "net", which is an older meaning of the Latin root word. Doublet of reticle, reticule, and reticulum. The correct English form is Reticulum, spelled R-E-T-I-C-U-L-U-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    A small constellation of the southern summer sky, said to resemble a reticle. It lies between the constellations of Horologium and Dorado.
  2. 2
    Classified as two of 23 "Southern Asterisms" (近南極星區, Jìnnánjíxīngqū)

Etymology

Named by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1763. From later Latin rēticulum (“reticle”). The meaning is often wrongly interpreted as "net", which is an older meaning of the Latin root word. Doublet of reticle, reticule, and reticulum.

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 "Reticulum"?
"Reticulum" is spelled R-E-T-I-C-U-L-U-M.
What does "Reticulum" mean?
As a proper noun, "Reticulum" means: A small constellation of the southern summer sky, said to resemble a reticle. It lies between the constellations of Horologium and Dorado.
What is the origin of the word "Reticulum"?
Named by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1763. From later Latin rēticulum (“reticle”). The meaning is often wrongly interpreted as "net", which is an older meaning of the Latin root word. Doublet of reticle, reticule, and reticu... 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.

Using “Reticulum”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is R-E-T-I-C-U-L-U-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list