afterbirth
/ˈæf.tɚ.bɚθ/
"afterbirth" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“afterbirth” is uncommon English (frequency #92,308 among 35,202 “A” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #92,308
- frequency rank, English
- 35,202
- “A” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The placenta and other material expelled via the birth canal following childbirth or parturition in mammals.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | afterbirth |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈæf.tɚ.bɚθ/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #92,308 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “afterbirth” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
afterbirth is uncommon English at frequency #92,308 among 35,202 “A” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈæf.tɚ.bɚθ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The placenta and other material expelled via the birth canal following childbirth or parturition in mammals.".
afterbirth doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. 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: From after- + birth (in the sense of delivery). Cognate with Danish efterbyrd (“afterbirth”), Swedish efterbörd (“afterbirth”). Compare also afterburden, afterburthen. The correct English form is afterbirth, spelled A-F-T-E-R-B-I-R-T-H.
Definition
- 1The placenta and other material expelled via the birth canal following childbirth or parturition in mammals.
Etymology
From after- + birth (in the sense of delivery). Cognate with Danish efterbyrd (“afterbirth”), Swedish efterbörd (“afterbirth”). Compare also afterburden, afterburthen.
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 “afterbirth”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-F-T-E-R-B-I-R-T-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈæf.tɚ.bɚθ/ (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.