teacup

Name: teacup, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˈtiː.kʌp/

//ˈtiː.kʌp// noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“teacup” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #41,413. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#41,413
frequency rank, English: 3,151
“T” headwords: 8
tracked misspellings: 2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A small cup, usually with a handle, commonly used for drinking tea; normally sits in a saucer as part of a tea set.

Corpus desk

Index EN-teacup · teacup · English

teacup · rank #41,413 · 8 variants · 2 confusables

FREQ-MID #41,413
LEN-LONG 6 letters
VOW-3 3 vowels
CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
VAR-MID 8 variants
BOOK-MID 3,151
PHOTO-FINISH taster

Nearest frequency peer: taster (-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.

Taos

58,592
tarek

58,591
taster

58,589
teacup

58,588
tectonics

58,585
Teo

58,584

What this shows “teacup” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

teacup vs Teague

50% similar

teacup vs teach

67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for teacup
Property	Value
Headword	teacup
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/ˈtiː.kʌp/
Letters	6
Frequency rank	#41,413
Misspellings tracked	8
Confusable pairs	2
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “teacup”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).teacuplands here:

#41,413

#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. Same rarity band neighbours include “taster” (#41,412), “tarek” (#41,410), “tectonics” (#41,416). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “teacup” is #41,413. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around teacup (IPA /ˈtiː.kʌp/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #41,413 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for teacup, with forms such as "etacup", "taecup", and "teaccup". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "Teague", "teach", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From tea + cup. The correct English form is teacup, spelled T-E-A-C-U-P.

Definition

1
A small cup, usually with a handle, commonly used for drinking tea; normally sits in a saucer as part of a tea set.
2
A unit of measure; a teacupful.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

"There isn't wind enough to capsize a tea-cup in a gutter," said Rasmus, and shifted his chew of tobacco with a little black chalk pipe, while he looked around him on all sides.

Etymology

From tea + cup.

This word in other languages

tasse à thé(Français)Teetasse(Deutsch)xícara(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

etacup
taecup
teaccup
teacpu
teacupp
teaucp
tecaup
tteacup

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of teacup - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

Edit distance from "teacup"

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 "teacup"?

"teacup" is spelled T-E-A-C-U-P. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈtiː.kʌp/.

What does "teacup" mean?

As a noun, "teacup" means: A small cup, usually with a handle, commonly used for drinking tea; normally sits in a saucer as part of a tea set.

What words are commonly confused with "teacup"?

"teacup" is commonly confused with "Teague", "teach". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "teacup"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "teacup" is /ˈtiː.kʌp/. 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 "teacup"?

From tea + cup. 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 "teacup", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

taster#41,412 testes#41,420 thatch#41,421 thawed#41,422

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

Straus8 variants Stewie8 variants unread8 variants yeoman8 variants