bilirubin
/bɪlɪˈɹuːbɪn/
"bilirubin" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bilirubin” is uncommon English (frequency #65,730 among 31,241 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #65,730
- frequency rank, English
- 31,241
- “B” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A bile pigment that is a product of the breakdown of the heme portion of hemoglobin (which occurs within macrophages as they digest red blood cells), and which is responsible for the yellowish colo...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bilirubin |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /bɪlɪˈɹuːbɪn/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #65,730 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bilirubin” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
bilirubin is uncommon English at frequency #65,730 among 31,241 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /bɪlɪˈɹuːbɪn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A bile pigment that is a product of the breakdown of the heme portion of hemoglobin (which occurs within macrophages as they digest red blood cells), and which is responsible for the yellowish colo...".
No generated misspelling entries exist for bilirubin in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From international scientific vocabulary, from German Bilirubin. By surface analysis, bili- + rub- + -in. The German word was naturalized into other languages as international scientific vocabulary (e.g., bilirubin, bilirubine, bilirubina). The correct English form is bilirubin, spelled B-I-L-I-R-U-B-I-N.
Definition
- 1A bile pigment that is a product of the breakdown of the heme portion of hemoglobin (which occurs within macrophages as they digest red blood cells), and which is responsible for the yellowish color seen in bruises. Extremely high levels of bilirubin may cause jaundice.
Etymology
From international scientific vocabulary, from German Bilirubin. By surface analysis, bili- + rub- + -in. The German word was naturalized into other languages as international scientific vocabulary (e.g., bilirubin, bilirubine, bilirubina).
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 “bilirubin”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-I-L-I-R-U-B-I-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /bɪlɪˈɹuːbɪn/ (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.