scabbard
/ˈskæb.əd/
"scabbard" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“scabbard” is uncommon English (frequency #55,720 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #55,720
- frequency rank, English
- 54,294
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The sheath of a sword.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | scabbard |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈskæb.əd/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #55,720 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “scabbard” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
scabbard is uncommon English at frequency #55,720 among 54,294 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈskæb.əd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The sheath of a sword.".
Zero misspellings are on record for scabbard in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English scabard, scauberde, scauberk, scauberke, from Anglo-Norman eschaubert, escalberc, of Germanic origin, perhaps from Frankish *skarberg (“sheath”, literally “blade-protection”), from Proto-Germanic *skēriz (“blade, scissors”) + *bergaz (“s… The correct English form is scabbard, spelled S-C-A-B-B-A-R-D.
Definition
- 1The sheath of a sword.
Etymology
From Middle English scabard, scauberde, scauberk, scauberke, from Anglo-Norman eschaubert, escalberc, of Germanic origin, perhaps from Frankish *skarberg (“sheath”, literally “blade-protection”), from Proto-Germanic *skēriz (“blade, scissors”) + *bergaz (“shelter, protection, refuge”). See also hauberk.
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 “scabbard”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-C-A-B-B-A-R-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈskæb.əd/ (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.