tape recorder

noun

"tape-recorder" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tape recorder” 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 September 3, 2026) - An electromechanical device use to record and play back sound, etc.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tape-recorder · tape recorder · English

tape recorder · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "T" 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.

Key facts for tape recorder
PropertyValue
Headwordtape recorder
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “tape recorder” in English

tape recorderfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

tape recorder is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An electromechanical device use to record and play back sound, etc.".

Zero misspellings are on record for tape recorder in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is tape recorder, spelled T-A-P-E- -R-E-C-O-R-D-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    An electromechanical device use to record and play back sound, etc.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. A cabled despatch is better than nothing, but a voicecast of tolerable quality is preferable, and in certain types of story a voicecast with live or recorded actuality is best of all. Correspondents all have portable tape recorders.

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

How do you spell "tape recorder"?
"tape recorder" is spelled T-A-P-E- -R-E-C-O-R-D-E-R.
What does "tape recorder" mean?
As a noun, "tape recorder" means: An electromechanical device use to record and play back sound, etc.
What language does "tape recorder" come from?
"tape recorder" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list