common starling

noun

"common-starling" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“common starling” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
15
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A bird of the species Sturnus vulgaris.

Key facts for common starling
PropertyValue
Headwordcommon starling
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters15
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “common starling” sits in English frequency

common starling falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for common starling is 15 letters long, classified as a noun. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A bird of the species Sturnus vulgaris.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for common starling, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Calque of translingual Sturnus vulgaris, via common + starling. The correct English form is common starling, spelled C-O-M-M-O-N- -S-T-A-R-L-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    A bird of the species Sturnus vulgaris.

Etymology

Calque of translingual Sturnus vulgaris, via common + starling.

Synonyms

European starlingstarling

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "common starling"?
"common starling" is spelled C-O-M-M-O-N- -S-T-A-R-L-I-N-G.
What does "common starling" mean?
As a noun, "common starling" means: A bird of the species Sturnus vulgaris.
What is the origin of the word "common starling"?
Calque of translingual Sturnus vulgaris, via common + starling. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “common starling”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is C-O-M-M-O-N- -S-T-A-R-L-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list