ettin
/ˈɛtɪn/
"ettin" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ettin” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A giant.
Corpus desk
Index EN-ettin · ettin · English
ettin · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "E" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ettin |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɛtɪn/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “ettin” in English
Rare enough to double-check
ettin is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɛtɪn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for ettin in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English eten, etend, from Old English eoten (“giant, monster, enemy”), from Proto-West Germanic *etun, from Proto-Germanic *etunaz (“giant, glutton”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- (“to eat”). Cognate with Icelandic jötunn (“giant”), Swedish j… The correct English form is ettin, spelled E-T-T-I-N.
Definition
- 1A giant.
- 2A giant with two heads.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how ettin appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
1890, Joseph Jacobs, "The Red Ettin" in English Folk and Fairy Tales, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 3rd edition, no date, p. 138, https://archive.org/details/englishfairytale00jacouoft He asked the wife if he might stay for the night, as he was tired with a long journey; and the wife said he might, but it was not a good place for him to be in, as it belon…
Etymology
From Middle English eten, etend, from Old English eoten (“giant, monster, enemy”), from Proto-West Germanic *etun, from Proto-Germanic *etunaz (“giant, glutton”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- (“to eat”). Cognate with Icelandic jötunn (“giant”), Swedish jätte (“giant”), Danish jætte (“giant”). Doublet of jotun.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.