vespers
/ˈvɛsˌpɝz/
"vespers" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“vespers” is an uncommon English word, ranked #57,160 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #57,160
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The sixth of the seven canonical hours, an evening prayer service
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | vespers |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈvɛsˌpɝz/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #57,160 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “vespers” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for vespers is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈvɛsˌpɝz/. Corpus data places it at rank #57,160 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for vespers, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English vespers, from Old French vespres (French vêpres), from Ecclesiastical Latin vesperae (“vespers”), substantivisation of relational Late Latin vesperus (“evening”), from vesper (“evening”) + -us. Euphemistic use first as Vèpres éphésiennes… The correct English form is vespers, spelled V-E-S-P-E-R-S.
Definition
- 1The sixth of the seven canonical hours, an evening prayer service
- 2A massacre
Etymology
From Middle English vespers, from Old French vespres (French vêpres), from Ecclesiastical Latin vesperae (“vespers”), substantivisation of relational Late Latin vesperus (“evening”), from vesper (“evening”) + -us. Euphemistic use first as Vèpres éphésiennes (“Ephesian Vespers”), coined in 1890 by historian Théodore Reinach by analogy with the Sicilian Vespers.
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 “vespers”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is V-E-S-P-E-R-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈvɛsˌpɝz/ (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.