Thessalonica

/ˌθɛsələˈnaɪkə/

//ˌθɛsələˈnaɪkə// name

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

The verdict

“Thessalonica” is uncommon English (frequency #83,814 among 3,151 “T” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#83,814
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Alternative form of Thessaloniki: a port city, the capital of Central Macedonia, in northern Greece.

Corpus desk

Index EN-thessalonica · Thessalonica · English

Thessalonica · rank #83,814 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #83,814
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH thrombin

Nearest frequency peer: thrombin (+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 “Thessalonica”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Thessalonica
PropertyValue
HeadwordThessalonica
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/ˌθɛsələˈnaɪkə/
Letters12
Frequency rank#83,814
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “Thessalonica” 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).Thessalonicafalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “thrombin” (#83,815), “thereunder” (#83,812), “thrombus” (#83,816). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “Thessalonica” is #83,814. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Thessalonica is uncommon English at frequency #83,814 among 3,151 “T” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ˌθɛsələˈnaɪkə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Alternative form of Thessaloniki: a port city, the capital of Central Macedonia, in northern Greece.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for Thessalonica, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin Thessalonīca, from Ancient Greek Θεσσᾰλονῑ́κη (Thessălonī́kē), named for Thessalonike daughter of Philip II, half-sister of Alexander the Great, and wife of Cassander of Macedonia, from Θεσσᾰλός (Thessălós, “Thessalian”) + νῑ́κη (nī́kē, … The correct English form is Thessalonica, spelled T-H-E-S-S-A-L-O-N-I-C-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Alternative form of Thessaloniki: a port city, the capital of Central Macedonia, in northern Greece.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin Thessalonīca, from Ancient Greek Θεσσᾰλονῑ́κη (Thessălonī́kē), named for Thessalonike daughter of Philip II, half-sister of Alexander the Great, and wife of Cassander of Macedonia, from Θεσσᾰλός (Thessălós, “Thessalian”) + νῑ́κη (nī́kē, “victory”), possibly named for her birth on the anniversary of the Battle of Crocus Field in Thessaly.

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 "Thessalonica"?
"Thessalonica" is spelled T-H-E-S-S-A-L-O-N-I-C-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌθɛsələˈnaɪkə/.
What does "Thessalonica" mean?
As a proper noun, "Thessalonica" means: Alternative form of Thessaloniki: a port city, the capital of Central Macedonia, in northern Greece.
How do you pronounce "Thessalonica"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Thessalonica" is /ˌθɛsələˈnaɪkə/. 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 "Thessalonica"?
Borrowed from Latin Thessalonīca, from Ancient Greek Θεσσᾰλονῑ́κη (Thessălonī́kē), named for Thessalonike daughter of Philip II, half-sister of Alexander the Great, and wife of Cassander of Macedonia, from Θεσσᾰλός (Thessălós, “Thessalian”) + νῑ́κ... 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 "Thessalonica", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 12 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list