cowbane
/ˈkaʊbeɪn/
"cowbane" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cowbane” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of several related poisonous plants of the genus Cicuta
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cowbane |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkaʊbeɪn/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cowbane” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
cowbane is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkaʊbeɪn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
cowbane has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From cow + bane. The correct English form is cowbane, spelled C-O-W-B-A-N-E.
Definition
- 1Any of several related poisonous plants of the genus Cicuta
- 2northern water hemlock (Cicuta virosa), type species of this genus.
Etymology
From cow + bane.
Synonyms
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
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Using “cowbane”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-O-W-B-A-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkaʊbeɪn/ (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
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.