belladonna

/ˌbɛləˈdɑnə/

//ˌbɛləˈdɑnə// noun

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

"belladonna" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“belladonna” is uncommon English (frequency #51,563 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#51,563
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A plant, Atropa belladonna, having purple bell-shaped flowers and poisonous black glossy berries.

Corpus desk

Index EN-belladonna · belladonna · English

belladonna · rank #51,563 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #51,563
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH beautification

Nearest frequency peer: beautification (-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 “belladonna”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for belladonna
PropertyValue
Headwordbelladonna
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌbɛləˈdɑnə/
Letters10
Frequency rank#51,563
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “belladonna” 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).belladonnafalls in this rarity band:

#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. Rare peers in the same band: “beautification” (#51,562), “Bellas” (#51,564), “Beatriz” (#51,561). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “belladonna” is #51,563. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

belladonna is uncommon English at frequency #51,563 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌbɛləˈdɑnə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for belladonna, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. 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: Borrowed from Italian belladonna (altered by folk etymology: bella donna (“beautiful lady”)) from Medieval Latin blādōna (“nightshade”), of Gaulish origin. The folk etymology was motivated by the cosmetic use of nightshade for dilating the eyes. The correct English form is belladonna, spelled B-E-L-L-A-D-O-N-N-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    A plant, Atropa belladonna, having purple bell-shaped flowers and poisonous black glossy berries.
  2. 2
    An alkaloid extracted from this plant, sometimes used medicinally, containing atropine.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Witches always anointed themselves with ointments before departing up the chimney to their Sabbaths. One such ointment was composed of Aconite, Belladonna, Water Parsley, Cinquefoil and Babies' Fat.
  2. The elderly women who practiced herbalism and administered belladonna (a pain killer) to pregnant women were apt to be accused of witchcraft. The Medieval church was against the administration of belladonna because they believed women were meant to suffer pain in childbirth as a result of Eve's sin.

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian belladonna (altered by folk etymology: bella donna (“beautiful lady”)) from Medieval Latin blādōna (“nightshade”), of Gaulish origin. The folk etymology was motivated by the cosmetic use of nightshade for dilating the eyes.

Synonyms

deadly nightshade

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 "belladonna"?
"belladonna" is spelled B-E-L-L-A-D-O-N-N-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌbɛləˈdɑnə/.
What does "belladonna" mean?
As a noun, "belladonna" means: A plant, Atropa belladonna, having purple bell-shaped flowers and poisonous black glossy berries.
How do you pronounce "belladonna"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "belladonna" is /ˌbɛləˈdɑnə/. 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 "belladonna"?
Borrowed from Italian belladonna (altered by folk etymology: bella donna (“beautiful lady”)) from Medieval Latin blādōna (“nightshade”), of Gaulish origin. The folk etymology was motivated by the cosmetic use of nightshade for dilating the eyes. 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 "belladonna", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

biochemist#51,567Balenciaga#51,555bricklayer#51,585Carmarthen#51,597

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list