dado
/ˈdeɪdəʊ/
"dado" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dado” is uncommon English (frequency #69,773 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #69,773
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The section of a pedestal above the base.
Corpus desk
Index EN-dado · dado · English
dado · rank #69,773 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #69,773
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH Dahlgren
Nearest frequency peer: Dahlgren (+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.
Long-tail ranks near “dado”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- cudgel
cudgel
30,232 corpus weight
- Cumbernauld
Cumbernauld
30,230 corpus weight
- dado
dado
30,228 corpus weight
- Dahlgren
Dahlgren
30,227 corpus weight
- Dalston
Dalston
30,226 corpus weight
- Danziger
Danziger
30,225 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “dado” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dado |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdeɪdəʊ/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #69,773 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “dado” in English
Rare enough to double-check
dado is uncommon English at frequency #69,773 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈdeɪdəʊ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for dado, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Italian dado, first attested in 1664. The correct English form is dado, spelled D-A-D-O.
Definition
- 1The section of a pedestal above the base.
- 2The lower portion of an interior wall decorated differently from the upper portion.
- 3The rectangular channel in a board cut across the grain.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how dado appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Like a dado round the room was the jutting line of splendid heavy game-heads, the best of their sort from every quarter of the world, with the rare white rhinoceros of the Lado Enclave drooping its supercilious lip above them all.
Hangings of tapestry were behind the high seats, worked with flowers, snake’s-head, snapdragon, dragon-mouth, and their kind; and on the dado below the windows were sculptures of birds and beasts and creeping things.
Etymology
From Italian dado, first attested in 1664.
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
How do you spell "dado"?
What does "dado" mean?
How do you pronounce "dado"?
What is the origin of the word "dado"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "dado", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).