carrion
/ˈkæ.ɹɪ.ən/
"carrion" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“carrion” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #41,037 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #41,037
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 19
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Rotting flesh of a dead animal or person.
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 | carrion |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkæ.ɹɪ.ən/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #41,037 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 19 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “carrion” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for carrion is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkæ.ɹɪ.ən/. Corpus data places it at rank #41,037 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 7 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 carrion, with forms such as "acrrion", "carion", and "cariron". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 19 confusable-pair relationships, "Carson", "carrot", "carton", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is derived from Middle English careine, caroigne (“dead body, corpse; animal carcass; reanimated corpse; gangrenous or rotting body or flesh; mortal nature; (derogatory) living body; (figurative) disgusting or worthless thing”), borrowed from Anglo… The correct English form is carrion, spelled C-A-R-R-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1Rotting flesh of a dead animal or person.
- 2Corrupt or horrid matter.
- 3Filth, garbage.
- 4The flesh of a living human body; also (Christianity), sinful human nature.
- 5A dead body; a carcass, a corpse.
- 6An animal which is in poor condition or worthless; also, an animal which is a pest or vermin.
- 7A contemptible or worthless person.
Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English careine, caroigne (“dead body, corpse; animal carcass; reanimated corpse; gangrenous or rotting body or flesh; mortal nature; (derogatory) living body; (figurative) disgusting or worthless thing”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman careine, caroigne, charogne, and Old French charoigne, Northern Old French caˈronië, caroine, caroigne (modern French charogne), probably from Vulgar Latin *carōnia, from Latin caro (“flesh”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off, sever; to divide, separate”)) + -ia (suffix forming nouns). Doublet of crone. The regular modern English form would be *carren, *carron /ˈkæɹən/ (this is found dialectally; see similar kyarn); the intervening /i/ is probably a hypercorrection based on the analogy of words like merlin/merlion. The adjective is derived from the noun.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: acrrion,carion,cariron,carrino,carrionn,carroin,ccarrion,crarion
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of carrion - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "carrion"?
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Using “carrion”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-A-R-R-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkæ.ɹɪ.ən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Carson” - see the side-by-side comparison. carrion vs Carson
- 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.