chickweed
"chickweed" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“chickweed” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of several small-leaved herbs of the genera Cerastium and Stellaria.
Corpus desk
Index EN-chickweed · chickweed · English
chickweed · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | chickweed |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “chickweed” in English
Rare enough to double-check
chickweed is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 7 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for chickweed, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English chykwed, chykewode, chike wed, chikewed, chekwede, a variant of chykynwede, chekyn-wede, cheken-wede (literally “chicken-weed”), equivalent to chick + weed. Etymonline claims the name was apparently applied to many plants fit for chicken… The correct English form is chickweed, spelled C-H-I-C-K-W-E-E-D.
Definition
- 1Any of several small-leaved herbs of the genera Cerastium and Stellaria.
- 2Any of several small-leaved herbs of the genera Cerastium and Stellaria.
- 3Any of several small-leaved herbs of the genera Cerastium and Stellaria.
- 4Other plants of similar appearance and habit, including those of species:
- 5Other plants of similar appearance and habit, including those of species:
- 6Other plants of similar appearance and habit, including those of species:
- 7Other plants of similar appearance and habit, including those of species:
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how chickweed appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I look at the little sprigs of chickweed trembling among the bean shoots and I am strangely moved. Such steadfastness! Such yearning! They want to live too. That is all they ask: to have their little moment in the world.
Etymology
From Middle English chykwed, chykewode, chike wed, chikewed, chekwede, a variant of chykynwede, chekyn-wede, cheken-wede (literally “chicken-weed”), equivalent to chick + weed. Etymonline claims the name was apparently applied to many plants fit for chicken feed, which were called in Old English cicene mete (“chicken food”).
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.