dawa
"dawa" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dawa” is uncommon English (frequency #62,822 among 26,416 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #62,822
- frequency rank, English
- 26,416
- “D” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A medicine, particularly a native one or one used by witch doctors.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dawa |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #62,822 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “dawa” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
dawa is uncommon English at frequency #62,822 among 26,416 “D” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for dawa in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Swahili dawa (“medicine”). The correct English form is dawa, spelled D-A-W-A.
Definition
- 1A medicine, particularly a native one or one used by witch doctors.
- 2A cocktail made with vodka, honey, and lime juice.
Etymology
Borrowed from Swahili dawa (“medicine”).
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 “dawa”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-A-W-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- 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.