buckthorn
/ˈbʌk.θɔːn/
"buckthorn" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“buckthorn” is uncommon English (frequency #86,093 among 31,241 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #86,093
- frequency rank, English
- 31,241
- “B” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of several, often thorny shrubs or small trees, especially
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | buckthorn |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbʌk.θɔːn/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #86,093 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “buckthorn” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
buckthorn is uncommon English at frequency #86,093 among 31,241 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈbʌk.θɔːn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for buckthorn in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Calque of Latin cervī spīna (“deer's thorny shrub”), cervi (“deer's”) being the genitive singular of cervus (“deer”), from Proto-Italic *kerwos, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥h₂wós, from *ḱerh₂- (“horn”) + *-wós, spīna (“thorny shrub”) from Proto-Italic *spe… The correct English form is buckthorn, spelled B-U-C-K-T-H-O-R-N.
Definition
- 1Any of several, often thorny shrubs or small trees, especially
- 2Any of several, often thorny shrubs or small trees, especially
- 3Any of several, often thorny shrubs or small trees, especially
- 4Any of several, often thorny shrubs or small trees, especially
Etymology
Calque of Latin cervī spīna (“deer's thorny shrub”), cervi (“deer's”) being the genitive singular of cervus (“deer”), from Proto-Italic *kerwos, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥h₂wós, from *ḱerh₂- (“horn”) + *-wós, spīna (“thorny shrub”) from Proto-Italic *speinā, from Proto-Indo-European *spey- (“sharp point”). By surface analysis, buck + thorn.
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 “buckthorn”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-U-C-K-T-H-O-R-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbʌk.θɔːn/ (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.