camellia

/kəˈmiːli.ə/

//kəˈmiːli.ə// noun

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

"camellia" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“camellia” is uncommon English (frequency #51,593 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#51,593
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any plant of the genus Camellia, shrubs and small trees native to Asia; Camellia japonica is the most popular as a garden plant; Camellia sinensis is the tea plant.

Corpus desk

Index EN-camellia · camellia · English

camellia · rank #51,593 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #51,593
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH captivate

Nearest frequency peer: captivate (+2 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 “camellia”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for camellia
PropertyValue
Headwordcamellia
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kəˈmiːli.ə/
Letters8
Frequency rank#51,593
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “camellia” in English

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “captivate” (#51,595), “carling” (#51,596), “Carmarthen” (#51,597). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “camellia” is #51,593. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

camellia is uncommon English at frequency #51,593 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /kəˈmiːli.ə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Any plant of the genus Camellia, shrubs and small trees native to Asia; Camellia japonica is the most popular as a garden plant; Camellia sinensis is the tea plant.".

Zero misspellings are on record for camellia in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from translingual Camellia, named after Moravian botanist Joseph Kamel (‘Camellus’) (1661–1706). The Czech surname Kamel is a variant of Kamil. The correct English form is camellia, spelled C-A-M-E-L-L-I-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any plant of the genus Camellia, shrubs and small trees native to Asia; Camellia japonica is the most popular as a garden plant; Camellia sinensis is the tea plant.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Palms towered majestically over the heads of the lower shrubs, and camellias, stephanotis, and many other semi-tropical flowers were growing luxuriantly in the open air.
  2. Plucking an occasional camellia, getting a squirt of hot milk from Miss Maudie Atkinson’s cow on a summer day, helping ourselves to someone’s scuppernongs was part of our ethical culture, but money was different.

Etymology

Borrowed from translingual Camellia, named after Moravian botanist Joseph Kamel (‘Camellus’) (1661–1706). The Czech surname Kamel is a variant of Kamil.

This word in other languages

camelia(Español)camélia(Français)Kamelie(Deutsch)camélia(Português)

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 "camellia"?
"camellia" is spelled C-A-M-E-L-L-I-A. The IPA pronunciation is /kəˈmiːli.ə/.
What does "camellia" mean?
As a noun, "camellia" means: Any plant of the genus Camellia, shrubs and small trees native to Asia; Camellia japonica is the most popular as a garden plant; Camellia sinensis is the tea plant.
How do you pronounce "camellia"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "camellia" is /kəˈmiːli.ə/. 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 "camellia"?
Borrowed from translingual Camellia, named after Moravian botanist Joseph Kamel (‘Camellus’) (1661–1706). The Czech surname Kamel is a variant of Kamil. 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 "camellia", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

carnaval#51,598Carvajal#51,600Brereton#51,584catalyze#51,602

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list