Aldebaran

/alˈdɛbəɹən/

//alˈdɛbəɹən// name

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"aldebaran" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Aldebaran” is uncommon English (frequency #93,382 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#93,382
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - One of the brightest stars in the sky, now recognised to be a binary star in the constellation Taurus (alpha (α) Tauri); an orange giant, 68 light years from Earth.

Corpus desk

Index EN-aldebaran · Aldebaran · English

Aldebaran · rank #93,382 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #93,382
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH Albay

Nearest frequency peer: Albay (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

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.

Long-tail ranks near “Aldebaran”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “Aldebaran” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Aldebaran
PropertyValue
HeadwordAldebaran
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/alˈdɛbəɹən/
Letters9
Frequency rank#93,382
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “Aldebaran” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).Aldebaranfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Albay” (#93,381), “Ajman” (#93,380), “AGIs” (#93,376). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “Aldebaran” is #93,382. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Aldebaran is uncommon English at frequency #93,382 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /alˈdɛbəɹən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "One of the brightest stars in the sky, now recognised to be a binary star in the constellation Taurus (alpha (α) Tauri); an orange giant, 68 light years from Earth.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for Aldebaran, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Arabic اَلدَّبَرَان (ad-dabarān, “the follower”), named so because it follows the Pleiades. The correct English form is Aldebaran, spelled A-L-D-E-B-A-R-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    One of the brightest stars in the sky, now recognised to be a binary star in the constellation Taurus (alpha (α) Tauri); an orange giant, 68 light years from Earth.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how Aldebaran appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The kingly brilliancy of Sirius pierced the eye with a steely glitter, the star called Capella was yellow, Aldebaran and Betelgueux shone with a fiery red.
  2. The brightest object depicted is Jupiter which stands near the red giant star Aldebaran in Taurus.

Etymology

From Arabic اَلدَّبَرَان (ad-dabarān, “the follower”), named so because it follows the Pleiades.

This word in other languages

Aldebarán(Español)Aldébaran(Français)Aldebaran(Deutsch)

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

How do you spell "Aldebaran"?
"Aldebaran" is spelled A-L-D-E-B-A-R-A-N. The IPA pronunciation is /alˈdɛbəɹən/.
What does "Aldebaran" mean?
As a proper noun, "Aldebaran" means: One of the brightest stars in the sky, now recognised to be a binary star in the constellation Taurus (alpha (α) Tauri); an orange giant, 68 light years from Earth.
How do you pronounce "Aldebaran"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Aldebaran" is /alˈdɛbəɹən/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "Aldebaran"?
From Arabic اَلدَّبَرَان (ad-dabarān, “the follower”), named so because it follows the Pleiades. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Aldebaran", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

anciently#93,397abseiling#93,366antivenom#93,400asexually#93,413

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list