eider
/ˈaɪdə/
"eider" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“eider” is uncommon English (frequency #83,212 among 18,836 “E” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #83,212
- frequency rank, English
- 18,836
- “E” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of the species of Somateria spp. and Polysticta stelleri or of the seaduck subfamily Merginae, which line their nests with fine down (taken from their own bodies).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | eider |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈaɪdə/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #83,212 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “eider” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
eider is uncommon English at frequency #83,212 among 18,836 “E” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈaɪdə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Any of the species of Somateria spp. and Polysticta stelleri or of the seaduck subfamily Merginae, which line their nests with fine down (taken from their own bodies).".
Zero misspellings are on record for eider in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Icelandic æðar, genitive of æðr, probably reaching English via Swedish eider (now ejder), from a North Germanic root. The correct English form is eider, spelled E-I-D-E-R.
Definition
- 1Any of the species of Somateria spp. and Polysticta stelleri or of the seaduck subfamily Merginae, which line their nests with fine down (taken from their own bodies).
Etymology
From Icelandic æðar, genitive of æðr, probably reaching English via Swedish eider (now ejder), from a North Germanic root.
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 “eider”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-I-D-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈaɪdə/ (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.