civet
/ˈsɪ.vɪt/
"civet" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“civet” is uncommon English (frequency #82,179 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #82,179
- frequency rank, English
- 43,570
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of the small carnivorous catlike mammals encompassing certain species from the families Viverridae, Eupleridae, and Nandiniidae, native to tropical Africa and Asia.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | civet |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsɪ.vɪt/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #82,179 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “civet” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
civet is uncommon English at frequency #82,179 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈsɪ.vɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for civet, 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: From French civette, from Italian zibetto, from Medieval Latin zibethum, from Arabic زَبَاد (zabād). The correct English form is civet, spelled C-I-V-E-T.
Definition
- 1Any of the small carnivorous catlike mammals encompassing certain species from the families Viverridae, Eupleridae, and Nandiniidae, native to tropical Africa and Asia.
- 2The musky perfume produced by the animal; civetone.
- 3A spotted skunk.
- 4A ringtail (Bassariscus astutus).
Etymology
From French civette, from Italian zibetto, from Medieval Latin zibethum, from Arabic زَبَاد (zabād).
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); 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
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Using “civet”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-I-V-E-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsɪ.vɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.