bitterroot

noun

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

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

The verdict

“bitterroot” is uncommon English (frequency #99,033 among 31,241 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#99,033
frequency rank, English
31,241
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Lewisia rediviva, a small, low, pink flower with a yellow center.

Key facts for bitterroot
PropertyValue
Headwordbitterroot
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Frequency rank#99,033
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “bitterroot” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). bitterroot lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

bitterroot is uncommon English at frequency #99,033 among 31,241 “B” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for bitterroot, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From bitter + root. The correct English form is bitterroot, spelled B-I-T-T-E-R-R-O-O-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Lewisia rediviva, a small, low, pink flower with a yellow center.
  2. 2
    Apocynum androsaemifolium (fly-trap dogbane).
  3. 3
    Gentiana lutea (great yellow gentian, bitterwort)

Etymology

From bitter + root.

Synonyms

Oregon bitterroot

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 "bitterroot"?
"bitterroot" is spelled B-I-T-T-E-R-R-O-O-T.
What does "bitterroot" mean?
As a noun, "bitterroot" means: Lewisia rediviva, a small, low, pink flower with a yellow center.
What is the origin of the word "bitterroot"?
From bitter + root. 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.

Using “bitterroot”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is B-I-T-T-E-R-R-O-O-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list