sambuca
/samˈbʊkə/
"sambuca" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sambuca” is uncommon English (frequency #90,932 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #90,932
- frequency rank, English
- 54,294
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An Italian liqueur made from elderberries and flavoured with licorice, traditionally served with 3 coffee beans that represent health, wealth and fortune (or past, present and future).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sambuca |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /samˈbʊkə/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #90,932 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sambuca” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
sambuca is uncommon English at frequency #90,932 among 54,294 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /samˈbʊkə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An Italian liqueur made from elderberries and flavoured with licorice, traditionally served with 3 coffee beans that represent health, wealth and fortune (or past, present and future).".
sambuca doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: ] Borrowed from Italian sambuca, from Latin sambūcus (“elder tree”), due to a similar 19th century liquor flavored with elderflower. Modern sambuca, which doesn't necessarily have elderberry, started being marketed in 1971. The correct English form is sambuca, spelled S-A-M-B-U-C-A.
Definition
- 1An Italian liqueur made from elderberries and flavoured with licorice, traditionally served with 3 coffee beans that represent health, wealth and fortune (or past, present and future).
Etymology
] Borrowed from Italian sambuca, from Latin sambūcus (“elder tree”), due to a similar 19th century liquor flavored with elderflower. Modern sambuca, which doesn't necessarily have elderberry, started being marketed in 1971.
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 “sambuca”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-A-M-B-U-C-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /samˈbʊkə/ (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
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.