tacking

noun

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

"tacking" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tacking” is uncommon English (frequency #52,664 among 3,151 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,664
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Loose temporary stitches in dressmaking etc.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tacking · tacking · English

tacking · rank #52,664 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,664
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH sympathetical…

Nearest frequency peer: sympathetically (-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 “tacking”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for tacking
PropertyValue
Headwordtacking
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters7
Frequency rank#52,664
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “tacking” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).tackingfalls 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: “sympathetically” (#52,663), “tadpole” (#52,665), “switcher” (#52,662). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “tacking” is #52,664. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

tacking is uncommon English at frequency #52,664 among 3,151 “T” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

tacking doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is tacking, spelled T-A-C-K-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    Loose temporary stitches in dressmaking etc.
  2. 2
    The act of changing tack.
  3. 3
    A union of securities given at different times, all of which must be redeemed before an intermediate purchaser can interpose a claim.
  4. 4
    The joining together of consecutive periods of possession of property, especially between squatters in cases of adverse possession.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. The English doctrine of tacking was first solemnly established in Marsh v . Lee , under the assistance of Sir Matthew Hale , who compared the operation to a plank in shipwreck gained by the last mortgagee

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 "tacking"?
"tacking" is spelled T-A-C-K-I-N-G.
What does "tacking" mean?
As a noun, "tacking" means: Loose temporary stitches in dressmaking etc.
What language does "tacking" come from?
"tacking" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "tacking", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

tadpole#52,665travail#52,684squeaks#52,643trophic#52,685

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list