rotary
/ˈɹəʊ.tə.ɹi/
"rotary" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“rotary” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #12,853. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #12,853
- frequency rank, English
- 3,094
- “R” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 10
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Capable of rotation.
Corpus desk
Index EN-rotary · rotary · English
rotary · rank #12,853 · 9 variants · 10 confusables
- FREQ-MID #12,853
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 10 pairs
- VAR-MID 9 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,094
- PHOTO-FINISH Rosie
Nearest frequency peer: Rosie (-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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “rotary”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- resin
resin
87,151 corpus weight
- resisted
resisted
87,150 corpus weight
- Rosie
Rosie
87,149 corpus weight
- rotary
rotary
87,148 corpus weight
- Rupert
Rupert
87,147 corpus weight
- rusty
rusty
87,146 corpus weight
What this shows “rotary” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | rotary |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈɹəʊ.tə.ɹi/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #12,853 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “rotary”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around rotary (IPA /ˈɹəʊ.tə.ɹi/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #12,853 among 3,094 “R” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Capable of rotation.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for rotary, with forms such as "ortary", "roatry", and "rotarry". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 10 confusable-pair relationships, "rotor", "rotate", "rotors", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Attested mid 18th century, from Medieval Latin rotarius, from Latin rota (“wheel”). The correct English form is rotary, spelled R-O-T-A-R-Y.
Definition
- 1Capable of rotation.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how rotary appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
A rotary engine revolves the heads rather than having pistons go back and forth.
Volatiles of kecap manis and its raw materials were extracted using Likens-Nickerson apparatus with diethyl ether as the extraction solvent. The extracts were then dried with anhydrous sodium sulfate, concentrated using a rotary evaporator followed by flushing using nitrogen until the volume was about 0.5 ml.
Etymology
Attested mid 18th century, from Medieval Latin rotarius, from Latin rota (“wheel”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ortary
- roatry
- rotarry
- rotaryy
- rotayr
- rotray
- rottary
- rrotary
- rtoary
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of rotary - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "rotary"?
What does "rotary" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "rotary"?
How do you pronounce "rotary"?
What is the origin of the word "rotary"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "rotary", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).