sign language
"sign-language" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sign language” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - One of several natural languages, typically used by the deaf, in which words consist of hand shapes, motions, positions, and facial expressions.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sign language |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sign language” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
sign language is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for sign language in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is sign language, spelled S-I-G-N- -L-A-N-G-U-A-G-E.
Definition
- 1One of several natural languages, typically used by the deaf, in which words consist of hand shapes, motions, positions, and facial expressions.
- 2The sign language (sense 1) that is used locally or that is mistakenly believed to be the only one.
- 3Sign languages (sense 1) considered collectively.
- 4Communication through gestures as a substitute for language, for example, between monks under a vow of silence or during trade amongst different linguistic groups.
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 “sign language”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-I-G-N- -L-A-N-G-U-A-G-E - 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.