Dervish
/ˈdɜː(ɹ)vɪʃ/
"dervish" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Dervish” is an uncommon English word, ranked #59,340 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #59,340
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A member of a Sufi Muslim ascetic fraternity of mendicant friars.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Dervish |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdɜː(ɹ)vɪʃ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #59,340 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Dervish” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Dervish is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdɜː(ɹ)vɪʃ/. Corpus data places it at rank #59,340 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Dervish has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Turkish derviş, from Persian درویش (darviš). The correct English form is Dervish, spelled D-E-R-V-I-S-H.
Definition
- 1A member of a Sufi Muslim ascetic fraternity of mendicant friars.
- 2A citizen or inhabitant of Darawiish (circa 1895–1920 C.E.), the Dhulbahante anti-colonial polity geographically corresponding with Khaatumo.
Etymology
From Turkish derviş, from Persian درویش (darviš).
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
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Using “Dervish”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-E-R-V-I-S-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈdɜː(ɹ)vɪʃ/ (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.