aubergine

/ˈəʊ.bə.ʒiːn/

//ˈəʊ.bə.ʒiːn// noun

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

The verdict

“aubergine” is an uncommon English word, ranked #58,522 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#58,522
frequency rank, English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An Asian plant, Solanum melongena, cultivated for its edible purple, green, or white ovoid fruit; eggplant.

Key facts for aubergine
PropertyValue
Headwordaubergine
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈəʊ.bə.ʒiːn/
Letters9
Frequency rank#58,522
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “aubergine” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). aubergine lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for aubergine is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈəʊ.bə.ʒiːn/. Corpus data places it at rank #58,522 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

No misspelling variants are generated for aubergine in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: Unadapted borrowing from French aubergine, from Catalan albergínia, from Arabic اَلْبَاذِنْجَان (al-bāḏinjān, “the aubergine”), from Classical Persian بَادِنْجَان (bādinjān), from بَاتِنْگَان (bātingān), from Sanskrit वातिङ्गण (vātiṅgaṇa, “the plant that cu… The correct English form is aubergine, spelled A-U-B-E-R-G-I-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    An Asian plant, Solanum melongena, cultivated for its edible purple, green, or white ovoid fruit; eggplant.
  2. 2
    The fruit of this plant, eaten as a vegetable.
  3. 3
    A dark purple colour; eggplant.

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French aubergine, from Catalan albergínia, from Arabic اَلْبَاذِنْجَان (al-bāḏinjān, “the aubergine”), from Classical Persian بَادِنْجَان (bādinjān), from بَاتِنْگَان (bātingān), from Sanskrit वातिङ्गण (vātiṅgaṇa, “the plant that cures the wind”), from Dravidian, ultimately from Proto-Dravidian *waẓVtV. Cognate with Malayalam വഴുതനങ്ങ (vaḻutanaṅṅa), Hindi बैंगन (baiṅgan). Doublet of brinjal.

Synonyms

the list at eggplant

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 "aubergine"?
"aubergine" is spelled A-U-B-E-R-G-I-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈəʊ.bə.ʒiːn/.
What does "aubergine" mean?
As a noun, "aubergine" means: An Asian plant, Solanum melongena, cultivated for its edible purple, green, or white ovoid fruit; eggplant.
How do you pronounce "aubergine"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "aubergine" is /ˈəʊ.bə.ʒiːn/. 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 "aubergine"?
Unadapted borrowing from French aubergine, from Catalan albergínia, from Arabic اَلْبَاذِنْجَان (al-bāḏinjān, “the aubergine”), from Classical Persian بَادِنْجَان (bādinjān), from بَاتِنْگَان (bātingān), from Sanskrit वातिङ्गण (vātiṅgaṇa, “the pla... 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.

Using “aubergine”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is A-U-B-E-R-G-I-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈəʊ.bə.ʒiːn/ (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
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list