Tiger or tyger?
tiger is a noun meaning “Panthera tigris, a large predatory mammal of the cat family, indigenous to Asia”; tyger is a noun meaning “Alternative form of tiger”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) tiger is about 123 times as common as tyger.
What is the difference between tiger and tyger?
| tiger | tyger | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun |
| Meaning | Panthera tigris, a large predatory mammal of the cat family, indigenous to Asia A male tiger; as opposed to a tigress A final shouted phrase, accompanied by a jump or outstretched arms, at the end of a cheer | Alternative form of tiger |
| Example | Coordinate term: tigress | none recorded |
| Forms | tigers | tygers |
| Pronunciation | /ˈtaɪɡə/ /ˈtaɪɡɚ/ [ˈtʌɪɡɚ] | not recorded |
| In writing | 20 times per million words | about once in every 6 million words |
Sources: tiger and tyger in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of tiger and tyger
tiger
- 1
Panthera tigris, a large predatory mammal of the cat family, indigenous to Asia
- 2
A final shouted phrase, accompanied by a jump or outstretched arms, at the end of a cheer
- 3
Someone connected with Hull City Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc
- 4
A male tiger; as opposed to a tigress
Coordinate term: tigress
- 5
A sabre-toothed tiger (any felid in the subfamily †Machairodontinae)
- 6
A Tasmanian tiger, †Thylacinus cynocephalus
- 7
A tiger moth in the family Arctiidae
- 8
A tiger beetle
tyger
- 1
Alternative form of tiger
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, tiger or tyger?
tiger appears 20 times per million words; tyger about once in every 6 million words.
tiger 20 times per million wordstyger about once in every 6 million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).