riba

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"riba" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“riba” is uncommon English (frequency #53,216 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,216
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - interest or usury, which is haram (sinful) according to sharia law.

Corpus desk

Index EN-riba · riba · English

riba · rank #53,216 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #53,216
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH revelry

Nearest frequency peer: revelry (-1 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 “riba”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “riba” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for riba
PropertyValue
Headwordriba
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters4
Frequency rank#53,216
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “riba” in English

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “revelry” (#53,215), “rime” (#53,217), “returner” (#53,214). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “riba” is #53,216. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

riba is uncommon English at frequency #53,216 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "interest or usury, which is haram (sinful) according to sharia law.".

riba has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Arabic رِبًا (riban). The correct English form is riba, spelled R-I-B-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    interest or usury, which is haram (sinful) according to sharia law.

Etymology

From Arabic رِبًا (riban).

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 "riba"?
"riba" is spelled R-I-B-A.
What does "riba" mean?
As a noun, "riba" means: interest or usury, which is haram (sinful) according to sharia law.
What is the origin of the word "riba"?
From Arabic رِبًا (riban). 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "riba", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

rime#53,217puta#53,189pica#53,166teat#53,293

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list