tapenade

/ˌtæ.pəˈnɑːd/

//ˌtæ.pəˈnɑːd// noun

"tapenade" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tapenade” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A Provençal dish consisting of puréed or finely chopped olives, capers, anchovies, and olive oil, usually eaten with bread as an hors d'œuvre.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tapenade · tapenade · English

tapenade · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 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 tapenade
PropertyValue
Headwordtapenade
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌtæ.pəˈnɑːd/
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “tapenade” in English

tapenadesits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

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

Rare enough to double-check

tapenade is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌtæ.pəˈnɑːd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A Provençal dish consisting of puréed or finely chopped olives, capers, anchovies, and olive oil, usually eaten with bread as an hors d'œuvre.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for tapenade, 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.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French tapenade, from Provençal and Occitan tapenada, tapenado, a diminutive of tapeno (“caper”), variant of tàpero, from Old Occitan tapera, from Latin capparis (“caper”). Influenced by Old Occitan tapia (“rammed earth”), referring to caper b… The correct English form is tapenade, spelled T-A-P-E-N-A-D-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A Provençal dish consisting of puréed or finely chopped olives, capers, anchovies, and olive oil, usually eaten with bread as an hors d'œuvre.

Etymology

Borrowed from French tapenade, from Provençal and Occitan tapenada, tapenado, a diminutive of tapeno (“caper”), variant of tàpero, from Old Occitan tapera, from Latin capparis (“caper”). Influenced by Old Occitan tapia (“rammed earth”), referring to caper bushes growing against buildings made of rammed earth.

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 "tapenade"?
"tapenade" is spelled T-A-P-E-N-A-D-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌtæ.pəˈnɑːd/.
What does "tapenade" mean?
As a noun, "tapenade" means: A Provençal dish consisting of puréed or finely chopped olives, capers, anchovies, and olive oil, usually eaten with bread as an hors d'œuvre.
How do you pronounce "tapenade"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tapenade" is /ˌtæ.pəˈnɑːd/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "tapenade"?
Borrowed from French tapenade, from Provençal and Occitan tapenada, tapenado, a diminutive of tapeno (“caper”), variant of tàpero, from Old Occitan tapera, from Latin capparis (“caper”). Influenced by Old Occitan tapia (“rammed earth”), referring ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
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Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list