carrion
/ˈkæ.ɹɪ.ən/
"carrion" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“carrion” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #41,037. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #41,037
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 19
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Rotting flesh of a dead animal or person.
Corpus desk
Index EN-carrion · carrion · English
carrion · rank #41,037 · 8 variants · 19 confusables
- FREQ-MID #41,037
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 19 pairs
- VAR-MID 8 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH Cargill
Nearest frequency peer: Cargill (-1 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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “carrion”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Cana
Cana
58,967 corpus weight
- cardamom
cardamom
58,966 corpus weight
- Cargill
Cargill
58,965 corpus weight
- carrion
carrion
58,964 corpus weight
- casks
casks
58,963 corpus weight
- cellist
cellist
58,961 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “carrion” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 8 spelling variants around carrion (IPA /ˈkæ.ɹɪ.ən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #41,037 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
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.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how carrion appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Vultures feed on carrion.
[W]ee ſee by experience, that ſome [brute beasts] feedeth on yͤ graſſe in yͤ fyelds ſome liues in the ayre eating flyes, others vpon yͤ wormes in carin, others wͭ [with] that they fynd vnder the water.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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What does "carrion" mean?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "carrion", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "carrion". Here's where to go from here.
- "carrion" maps to 19 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "Carson". View pair
- 8 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #41,037 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "C" letter cohort. C–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.