dawa

noun

"dawa" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“dawa” is uncommon English (frequency #62,822 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#62,822
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A medicine, particularly a native one or one used by witch doctors.

Corpus desk

Index EN-dawa · dawa · English

dawa · rank #62,822 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #62,822
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH Davinci

Nearest frequency peer: Davinci (-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 “dawa”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “dawa” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for dawa
PropertyValue
Headworddawa
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters4
Frequency rank#62,822
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “dawa” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).dawafalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Davinci” (#62,821), “deaconess” (#62,824), “dearie” (#62,825). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “dawa” is #62,822. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

dawa is uncommon English at frequency #62,822 among 3,470 “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

  1. 1
    A medicine, particularly a native one or one used by witch doctors.
  2. 2
    A 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

How do you spell "dawa"?
"dawa" is spelled D-A-W-A.
What does "dawa" mean?
As a noun, "dawa" means: A medicine, particularly a native one or one used by witch doctors.
What is the origin of the word "dawa"?
Borrowed from Swahili dawa (“medicine”). 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "dawa", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list