aardvark
/ˈɑːd.vɑːk/
"aardvark" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“aardvark” is uncommon English (frequency #59,840 among 35,202 “A” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #59,840
- frequency rank, English
- 35,202
- “A” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The nocturnal, insectivorous, burrowing mammal Orycteropus afer, of the order Tubulidentata and somewhat resembling a pig. Common in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | aardvark |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɑːd.vɑːk/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #59,840 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “aardvark” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
aardvark is uncommon English at frequency #59,840 among 35,202 “A” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɑːd.vɑːk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The nocturnal, insectivorous, burrowing mammal Orycteropus afer, of the order Tubulidentata and somewhat resembling a pig. Common in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for aardvark, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Afrikaans aardvark (obsolete), erdvark, from aarde (“earth”, from Middle Dutch aerde) + vark (“pig”, from Middle Dutch varken). Early European colonists in South Africa noticed that the animal was similar to a pig, while aarde hints at the ani… The correct English form is aardvark, spelled A-A-R-D-V-A-R-K.
Definition
- 1The nocturnal, insectivorous, burrowing mammal Orycteropus afer, of the order Tubulidentata and somewhat resembling a pig. Common in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
Etymology
Borrowed from Afrikaans aardvark (obsolete), erdvark, from aarde (“earth”, from Middle Dutch aerde) + vark (“pig”, from Middle Dutch varken). Early European colonists in South Africa noticed that the animal was similar to a pig, while aarde hints at the animal's habit of burrowing.
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 “aardvark”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-A-R-D-V-A-R-K - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɑːd.vɑːk/ (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
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.