spica

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"spica" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“spica” is uncommon English (frequency #65,527 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#65,527
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A spike (kind of inflorescence in which sessile flowers are arranged on an unbranched elongated axis).

Corpus desk

Index EN-spica · spica · English

spica · rank #65,527 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #65,527
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH Spengler

Nearest frequency peer: Spengler (-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 “spica”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for spica
PropertyValue
Headwordspica
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters5
Frequency rank#65,527
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “spica” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).spicafalls 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: “Spengler” (#65,526), “spearmint” (#65,524), “squawking” (#65,530). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “spica” is #65,527. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

spica is uncommon English at frequency #65,527 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

spica has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Latin spica. The correct English form is spica, spelled S-P-I-C-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    A spike (kind of inflorescence in which sessile flowers are arranged on an unbranched elongated axis).
  2. 2
    A spur.
  3. 3
    A kind of bandage passing, by successive turns and crosses, from an extremity to the trunk; a spiral bandage with reversed turns.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin spica.

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 "spica"?
"spica" is spelled S-P-I-C-A.
What does "spica" mean?
As a noun, "spica" means: A spike (kind of inflorescence in which sessile flowers are arranged on an unbranched elongated axis).
What is the origin of the word "spica"?
Learned borrowing from Latin spica. 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 "spica", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

sonne#65,516swill#65,548shuns#65,499telos#65,559

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list