canine
/ˈkeɪnaɪn/
"canine" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“canine” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #18,778 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #18,778
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of, or pertaining to, a dog or dogs.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | canine |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈkeɪnaɪn/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #18,778 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “canine” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for canine is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkeɪnaɪn/. Corpus data places it at rank #18,778 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for canine, with forms such as "acnine", "cainne", and "canien". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "cine", "canon", "canoe", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin canīnus (“of dogs, doglike, dogtooth”), from canis (“dog”). Compare French canin. The correct English form is canine, spelled C-A-N-I-N-E.
Definition
- 1Of, or pertaining to, a dog or dogs.
- 2Dog-like.
- 3Of or pertaining to mammalian teeth which are cuspids or fangs.
- 4Of an appetite: depraved or inordinate; used to describe eating disorders.
Etymology
From Latin canīnus (“of dogs, doglike, dogtooth”), from canis (“dog”). Compare French canin.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: acnine,cainne,canien,caninne,cannie,cannine,ccanine,cnaine
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of canine - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "canine"?
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Using “canine”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-A-N-I-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkeɪnaɪn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “cine” - see the side-by-side comparison. canine vs cine
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.