settee

/sɛˈtiː/

//sɛˈtiː// noun

"settee" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“settee” is uncommon English (frequency #57,060 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#57,060
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A long seat with a back, made to accommodate several persons at once; a sofa.

Corpus desk

Index EN-settee · settee · English

settee · rank #57,060 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #57,060
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sessile

Nearest frequency peer: sessile (-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 “settee”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for settee
PropertyValue
Headwordsettee
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/sɛˈtiː/
Letters6
Frequency rank#57,060
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “settee” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).setteefalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “sessile” (#57,059), “Shami” (#57,061), “semple” (#57,057). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “settee” is #57,060. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

settee is uncommon English at frequency #57,060 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /sɛˈtiː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A long seat with a back, made to accommodate several persons at once; a sofa.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for settee, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Unclear, possibly from settle (“seat, long bench”) + -ee (diminutive suffix). The correct English form is settee, spelled S-E-T-T-E-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A long seat with a back, made to accommodate several persons at once; a sofa.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how settee appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The lounge was furnished in old English oak and big Knole settees. There were rugs from Tabriz and Kerman on the highly polished floor. […] A table lamp was fashioned from a silver Egyptian hookah.
  2. “You might have to calm this down, my darling. I'm not sure this settee can take it.” “This settee has taken centuries of our love.”

Etymology

Unclear, possibly from settle (“seat, long bench”) + -ee (diminutive suffix).

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

How do you spell "settee"?
"settee" is spelled S-E-T-T-E-E. The IPA pronunciation is /sɛˈtiː/.
What does "settee" mean?
As a noun, "settee" means: A long seat with a back, made to accommodate several persons at once; a sofa.
How do you pronounce "settee"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "settee" is /sɛˈtiː/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "settee"?
Unclear, possibly from settle (“seat, long bench”) + -ee (diminutive suffix). 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 "settee", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list