Sextans
"sextans" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Sextans” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A dim spring constellation of the northern sky, said to resemble a sextant. It lies south of the constellation of Leo.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Sextans |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Sextans” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Sextans is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aproper noun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A dim spring constellation of the northern sky, said to resemble a sextant. It lies south of the constellation of Leo.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for Sextans, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Named by the astronomer Johannes Hevelius in 1690. From Latin sextans, a "sextant" (nautical measuring implement) The correct English form is Sextans, spelled S-E-X-T-A-N-S.
Definition
- 1A dim spring constellation of the northern sky, said to resemble a sextant. It lies south of the constellation of Leo.
Etymology
Named by the astronomer Johannes Hevelius in 1690. From Latin sextans, a "sextant" (nautical measuring implement)
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “Sextans”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-E-X-T-A-N-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.