faun

/fɔːn/

//fɔːn// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"faun" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“faun” is uncommon English (frequency #58,018 among 2,507 “F” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#58,018
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A woodland creature with pointed ears, legs, and short horns of a goat and a fondness for unrestrained revelry.

Corpus desk

Index EN-faun · faun · English

faun · rank #58,018 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #58,018
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH exhibitionist

Nearest frequency peer: exhibitionist (-3 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 “faun”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “faun” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for faun
PropertyValue
Headwordfaun
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/fɔːn/
Letters4
Frequency rank#58,018
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “faun” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).faunfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “exhibitionist” (#58,015), “ferrier” (#58,021), “exhaustively” (#58,014). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “faun” is #58,018. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

faun is uncommon English at frequency #58,018 among 2,507 “F” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /fɔːn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for faun, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English fawn, from Latin faunus. The correct English form is faun, spelled F-A-U-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A woodland creature with pointed ears, legs, and short horns of a goat and a fondness for unrestrained revelry.
  2. 2
    Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Faunis.

Etymology

From Middle English fawn, from Latin faunus.

This word in other languages

fauno(Español)faune(Français)Faun(Deutsch)

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 "faun"?
"faun" is spelled F-A-U-N. The IPA pronunciation is /fɔːn/.
What does "faun" mean?
As a noun, "faun" means: A woodland creature with pointed ears, legs, and short horns of a goat and a fondness for unrestrained revelry.
How do you pronounce "faun"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "faun" is /fɔːn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "faun"?
From Middle English fawn, from Latin faunus. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "faun", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

fils#58,027Geng#58,047gish#58,051Glas#58,054

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list