spathe
/speɪð/
"spathe" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“spathe” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A large bract that envelops or subtends a whole inflorescence, typically a spadix.
Corpus desk
Index EN-spathe · spathe · English
spathe · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | spathe |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /speɪð/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “spathe” in English
Rare enough to double-check
spathe is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /speɪð/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A large bract that envelops or subtends a whole inflorescence, typically a spadix.".
Zero misspellings are on record for spathe in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin spatha, from Ancient Greek σπάθη (spáthē, “blade”). Doublet of epee, spatha, and spade. The correct English form is spathe, spelled S-P-A-T-H-E.
Definition
- 1A large bract that envelops or subtends a whole inflorescence, typically a spadix.
Etymology
From Latin spatha, from Ancient Greek σπάθη (spáthē, “blade”). Doublet of epee, spatha, and spade.
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.