eggnog
/ˌɛɡˈnɒɡ/
"eggnog" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“eggnog” is uncommon English (frequency #58,658 among 18,836 “E” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #58,658
- frequency rank, English
- 18,836
- “E” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A beverage based on milk, eggs, sugar, and nutmeg; often made alcoholic with rum, brandy, or whisky; popular at Christmas.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | eggnog |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌɛɡˈnɒɡ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #58,658 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “eggnog” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
eggnog is uncommon English at frequency #58,658 among 18,836 “E” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌɛɡˈnɒɡ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A beverage based on milk, eggs, sugar, and nutmeg; often made alcoholic with rum, brandy, or whisky; popular at Christmas.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for eggnog, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: American English c. 1775 (although drinks like it are attested far earlier, e.g. posset, of which a monastic Christmas recipe used eggs), from egg + nog. The second element is uncertain and long-debated; prominent claims include Norfolk dialect nog (“strong… The correct English form is eggnog, spelled E-G-G-N-O-G.
Definition
- 1A beverage based on milk, eggs, sugar, and nutmeg; often made alcoholic with rum, brandy, or whisky; popular at Christmas.
Etymology
American English c. 1775 (although drinks like it are attested far earlier, e.g. posset, of which a monastic Christmas recipe used eggs), from egg + nog. The second element is uncertain and long-debated; prominent claims include Norfolk dialect nog (“strong ale”), or a clipping of noggin (“small, carved wooden mug used to serve alcohol”) (q.v.). Another hypothesis is that it is a variant of grog (“rum-and-water cocktail”).
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 "eggnog"?
What does "eggnog" mean?
How do you pronounce "eggnog"?
What is the origin of the word "eggnog"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “eggnog”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-G-G-N-O-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌɛɡˈnɒɡ/ (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.