exhume
/ɛksˈ(h)juːm/
"exhume" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“exhume” is uncommon English (frequency #74,084 among 2,246 “E” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #74,084
- frequency rank, English
- 2,246
- “E” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter.
Corpus desk
Index EN-exhume · exhume · English
exhume · rank #74,084 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #74,084
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,246
- PHOTO-FINISH exuding
Nearest frequency peer: exuding (+2 rank slots)
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.
Long-tail ranks near “exhume”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- escapement
escapement
25,924 corpus weight
- Etherington
Etherington
25,921 corpus weight
- exhume
exhume
25,917 corpus weight
- exuding
exuding
25,915 corpus weight
- Fareham
Fareham
25,912 corpus weight
- felonious
felonious
25,910 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “exhume” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | exhume |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɛksˈ(h)juːm/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #74,084 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “exhume” in English
Rare enough to double-check
exhume is uncommon English at frequency #74,084 among 2,246 “E” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ɛksˈ(h)juːm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for exhume in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Medieval Latin exhumō, from Latin ex- + humō (“to bury”). The correct English form is exhume, spelled E-X-H-U-M-E.
Definition
- 1To dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter.
- 2To uncover; to bring to light.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how exhume appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The archeologist exhumed artifacts from the ground with a shovel.
Not so long ago a Scotsman is reported to have exhumed the body of his daughter and burnt her heart, as he thought she was devitalising her remaining brother and sister and making them ill.
Etymology
From Medieval Latin exhumō, from Latin ex- + humō (“to bury”).
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "exhume", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).