treacle
/ˈtɹiː.kəl/
"treacle" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“treacle” is an uncommon English word, ranked #54,539 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #54,539
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A syrupy byproduct of sugar refining; molasses or golden syrup.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | treacle |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈtɹiː.kəl/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #54,539 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “treacle” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for treacle is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈtɹiː.kəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #54,539 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for treacle in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English triacle, partly from Old French triacle, and partly from Old English tyriaca, both from Late Latin *triaca, *tiriaca, late form of theriaca, ultimately from Ancient Greek θηριακή (thēriakḗ, “antidote”), feminine form of θηριακός (thēriak… The correct English form is treacle, spelled T-R-E-A-C-L-E.
Definition
- 1A syrupy byproduct of sugar refining; molasses or golden syrup.
- 2Cloying sentimental speech.
- 3Sweetheart (from treacle tart).
- 4Synonym of theriac: an antidote for poison, especially snakebite; a supposedly universal antidote.
- 5Synonym of theriac: an antidote for poison, especially snakebite; a supposedly universal antidote.
- 6Synonym of theriac: an antidote for poison, especially snakebite; a supposedly universal antidote.
Etymology
From Middle English triacle, partly from Old French triacle, and partly from Old English tyriaca, both from Late Latin *triaca, *tiriaca, late form of theriaca, ultimately from Ancient Greek θηριακή (thēriakḗ, “antidote”), feminine form of θηριακός (thēriakós, “concerning venomous beasts”), from θήρ (thḗr, “beast”). Doublet of theriacle, equivalent to theriac + -le.
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); 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
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Using “treacle”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-R-E-A-C-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈtɹiː.kəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.