rafia

[ˈrafja]

/[ˈrafja]/ noun

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency Spanish
5
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Hilo o cordel de fibra natural, proveniente de una especie de palma de África y América tropicales del género Raphia. Se trata de una fibra muy resistente y flexible, se usa en la industria del cor...

Corpus desk

Index ES-rafia · rafia · Spanish

rafia · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "R" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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 rafia
PropertyValue
Headwordrafia
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈrafja]
Letters5
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Cola larga: rango de “rafia” en español

rafiaqueda fuera de las 100.000 palabras españolas más frecuentes, en la cola larga de vocabulario técnico, arcaico o raro, justo donde más se duda de la ortografía.

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

Rare enough to double-check

rafia is uncommon Spanish outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈrafja]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for rafia, suggesting the orthography follows predictable Spanish patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct Spanish form is rafia, spelled R-A-F-I-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Hilo o cordel de fibra natural, proveniente de una especie de palma de África y América tropicales del género Raphia. Se trata de una fibra muy resistente y flexible, se usa en la industria del cordado y en la textil como materia prima en sustitución del yute.
  2. 2
    (Raphia) Palmera que origina este tipo de hilo, de grueso estipe, grandes hojas pinnadas, enormes frutos elípticos.

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 "rafia"?
"rafia" is spelled R-A-F-I-A. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈrafja].
What does "rafia" mean?
As a noun, "rafia" means: Hilo o cordel de fibra natural, proveniente de una especie de palma de África y América tropicales del género Raphia. Se trata de una fibra muy resistente y flexible, se usa en la industria del cor...
How do you pronounce "rafia"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "rafia" is [ˈrafja]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "rafia" come from?
"rafia" is a Spanish word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list