baobab
/ˈbeɪə(ʊ)bab/
"baobab" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“baobab” is uncommon English (frequency #72,114 among 31,241 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #72,114
- frequency rank, English
- 31,241
- “B” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A tree, Adansonia digitata, native to tropical Africa, having a broad swollen trunk and edible gourd-like hanging fruits.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | baobab |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbeɪə(ʊ)bab/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #72,114 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “baobab” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
baobab is uncommon English at frequency #72,114 among 31,241 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈbeɪə(ʊ)bab/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for baobab, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Medieval Latin bahobab, from Arabic أَبُو حِبَاب (ʔabū ḥibāb, “father of many seeds”), from أَبُو (ʔabū, “father”) + حَبّ (ḥabb, “seed”). The correct English form is baobab, spelled B-A-O-B-A-B.
Definition
- 1A tree, Adansonia digitata, native to tropical Africa, having a broad swollen trunk and edible gourd-like hanging fruits.
- 2Any tree of the genus Adansonia.
Etymology
Borrowed from Medieval Latin bahobab, from Arabic أَبُو حِبَاب (ʔabū ḥibāb, “father of many seeds”), from أَبُو (ʔabū, “father”) + حَبّ (ḥabb, “seed”).
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 “baobab”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-A-O-B-A-B - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbeɪə(ʊ)bab/ (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.