# banshee

> English word · Noun · IPA /bænˈʃiː/ · frequency rank #36,446

## Definitions
1. A female spirit, usually taking the form of a woman whose mournful wailing warns of an impending death.
2. A noisy or ill-tempered woman.

## Etymology
Borrowed from Irish bean sí, from Old Irish ben síde (literally “woman of the fairy mound”). The term banshee entered English in 1771.

## Easily confused with
- **bashed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/banshee-vs-bashed)
- **banished** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/banished-vs-banshee)

## Common misspellings (10)
`abnshee`, `banhsee`, `bannshee`, `bansehe`, `banshe`, `banshhee`, `bansshee`, `basnhee`, `bbanshee`, `bnashee`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/banshee