sepoy
/ˈsiːˌpɔɪ/
"sepoy" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sepoy” is uncommon English (frequency #84,734 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #84,734
- frequency rank, English
- 54,294
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A native soldier of the East Indies, employed in the service of a European colonial power, notably the British India army (first under the British-chartered East India Company, later in the crown c...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sepoy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsiːˌpɔɪ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #84,734 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sepoy” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
sepoy is uncommon English at frequency #84,734 among 54,294 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈsiːˌpɔɪ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
sepoy has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Portuguese sipae, from Urdu سِپاہی (sipāhī) / Hindi सिपाही (sipāhī), from Classical Persian سِپَاهِی (sipāhī, “soldier, horseman”), from سِپَاه (sipāh, “army”). Doublet of spahi and sipahi. The correct English form is sepoy, spelled S-E-P-O-Y.
Definition
- 1A native soldier of the East Indies, employed in the service of a European colonial power, notably the British India army (first under the British-chartered East India Company, later in the crown colony), but also France and Portugal.
- 2The holder of an infantry enlisted rank equivalent to private in other countries.
Etymology
From Portuguese sipae, from Urdu سِپاہی (sipāhī) / Hindi सिपाही (sipāhī), from Classical Persian سِپَاهِی (sipāhī, “soldier, horseman”), from سِپَاه (sipāh, “army”). Doublet of spahi and sipahi.
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 “sepoy”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-E-P-O-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsiːˌpɔɪ/ (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.