baboon

/bəˈbuːn/

//bəˈbuːn// noun

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

"baboon" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“baboon” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #40,131. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#40,131
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
11
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An Old World monkey of the genus Papio, having dog-like muzzles and large canine teeth, cheek pouches, a short tail, and naked callosities on the buttocks.

Corpus desk

Index EN-baboon · baboon · English

baboon · rank #40,131 · 8 variants · 11 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #40,131
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 11 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH Baca

Nearest frequency peer: Baca (+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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “baboon”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “baboon” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

baboon vs boon
67% similar
baboon vs bacon
67% similar
baboon vs baron
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for baboon
PropertyValue
Headwordbaboon
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/bəˈbuːn/
Letters6
Frequency rank#40,131
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs11
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “baboon”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).baboonlands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “Baca” (#40,132), “Avignon” (#40,129), “backfield” (#40,133). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “baboon” is #40,131. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around baboon (IPA /bəˈbuːn/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #40,131 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for baboon, with forms such as "abboon", "babboon", and "babon". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "boon", "bacon", "baron", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English babewin, baboin, from Old French babouin, from baboue (“grimace; muzzle”), of West Germanic origin, related to dialectal German Bäppe (“lips; muzzle”), Middle High German beffen (“to bark”), Middle English baffen (“to bark”). See also ba… The correct English form is baboon, spelled B-A-B-O-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    An Old World monkey of the genus Papio, having dog-like muzzles and large canine teeth, cheek pouches, a short tail, and naked callosities on the buttocks.
  2. 2
    A foolish or boorish person.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Mix swallowed the comment he wanted to make, that the council hall stank like a congress of baboons. But he was in no position to insult his host, nor should he. The man was only expressing the attitude of his time.
  2. He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record.

Etymology

From Middle English babewin, baboin, from Old French babouin, from baboue (“grimace; muzzle”), of West Germanic origin, related to dialectal German Bäppe (“lips; muzzle”), Middle High German beffen (“to bark”), Middle English baffen (“to bark”). See also baff, baffle.

This word in other languages

babuino(Español)babouin(Français)Pavian(Deutsch)babuíno(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • abboon
  • babboon
  • babon
  • babono
  • baboonn
  • baobon
  • bbaboon
  • bbaoon

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of baboon - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

abboon2babboon1babon1babono2baboonn1baobon2bbaboon1bbaoon2
Edit distance from "baboon"

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 "baboon"?
"baboon" is spelled B-A-B-O-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /bəˈbuːn/.
What does "baboon" mean?
As a noun, "baboon" means: An Old World monkey of the genus Papio, having dog-like muzzles and large canine teeth, cheek pouches, a short tail, and naked callosities on the buttocks.
What words are commonly confused with "baboon"?
"baboon" is commonly confused with "boon", "bacon", "baron". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "baboon"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "baboon" is /bəˈbuːn/. 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 "baboon"?
From Middle English babewin, baboin, from Old French babouin, from baboue (“grimace; muzzle”), of West Germanic origin, related to dialectal German Bäppe (“lips; muzzle”), Middle High German beffen (“to bark”), Middle English baffen (“to bark”). S... 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 "baboon", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

balled#40,136aprons#40,120Bennie#40,146Alston#40,111

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

Yamada8 variantsWyman8 variantsVichy8 variantsDalian8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list