echidna
/əˈkɪdnə/
"echidna" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“echidna” is uncommon English (frequency #69,018 among 18,836 “E” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #69,018
- frequency rank, English
- 18,836
- “E” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of the species of small spined monotremes in the family Tachyglossidae, the four extant species of which are found in Australia and southern New Guinea.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | echidna |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /əˈkɪdnə/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #69,018 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “echidna” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
echidna is uncommon English at frequency #69,018 among 18,836 “E” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /əˈkɪdnə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Any of the species of small spined monotremes in the family Tachyglossidae, the four extant species of which are found in Australia and southern New Guinea.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for echidna in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Coined in scientific literature around 1811. Probably from Ancient Greek ἔχιδνα (ékhidna, “snake, viper”) via Latin echidna. Compare ἐχῖνος (ekhînos, “hedgehog, etc.”). However, this sense is problematic (unless it is a reference to the ant-eating tongue). … The correct English form is echidna, spelled E-C-H-I-D-N-A.
Definition
- 1Any of the species of small spined monotremes in the family Tachyglossidae, the four extant species of which are found in Australia and southern New Guinea.
Etymology
Coined in scientific literature around 1811. Probably from Ancient Greek ἔχιδνα (ékhidna, “snake, viper”) via Latin echidna. Compare ἐχῖνος (ekhînos, “hedgehog, etc.”). However, this sense is problematic (unless it is a reference to the ant-eating tongue). The name perhaps belongs to Latin echinus (“sea urchin, hedgehog”) from the aforementioned Ancient Greek term's alternate sense of "sea-urchin" (also "sharp points"), which Watkins explains as "snake-eater", from ἔχις (ékhis, “snake”), though it may actually be from Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰis (“hedgehog, hedgehog-like animals”). The 1810 Encyclopaedia Britannica deduces thus the animal's alternative name as "porcupine ant-eater". Alternatively, and perhaps more likely, the name refers to Echidna as the name of a serpent-nymph in Greek mythology, "a beautiful woman in the upper part of her body; but instead of legs and feet, she had from the waist downward, the form of a serpent", in which case the animal was named for its mixed features (early naturalists doubted whether it was a mammal or amphibian). Ultimately, the etymology may be from a synthesis of all the roots above. (From OED.)
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); 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 “echidna”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-C-H-I-D-N-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əˈkɪdnə/ (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
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.