fellatio

/fəˈleɪ.ʃi.əʊ/

//fəˈleɪ.ʃi.əʊ// noun

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

"fellatio" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“fellatio” is uncommon English (frequency #53,538 among 2,507 “F” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,538
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Performance of oral sex upon the penis.

Corpus desk

Index EN-fellatio · fellatio · English

fellatio · rank #53,538 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #53,538
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH feelgood

Nearest frequency peer: feelgood (-1 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 “fellatio”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for fellatio
PropertyValue
Headwordfellatio
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/fəˈleɪ.ʃi.əʊ/
Letters8
Frequency rank#53,538
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “fellatio” 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).fellatiofalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “feelgood” (#53,537), “FFF” (#53,539), “feathery” (#53,535). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “fellatio” is #53,538. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

fellatio is uncommon English at frequency #53,538 among 2,507 “F” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /fəˈleɪ.ʃi.əʊ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Performance of oral sex upon the penis.".

fellatio has no tracked misspelling variants, 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: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- Latin fellō Proto-Indo-European *-tisder. Proto-Italic *-tjō Latin -tiō Latin fellātiōlbor. English fellatio Learned borrowing from Latin fellātiō, from fellātus, perfect participle of fellō (“I suck, I fellate”… The correct English form is fellatio, spelled F-E-L-L-A-T-I-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    Performance of oral sex upon the penis.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how fellatio appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. In 7 oder 8 anderen Fällen ging die geschlechtliche Beziehung selten über enge Berührung oder gegenseitige Masturbation hinaus. In 2 oder 3 anderen Fällen ist fellatio die bevorzugte Methode.
  2. That the word "fellatio" has not become Anglicized is so clearly apparent that further comment seems unnecessary. […] Section 288a of the Penal Code is void for uncertainty as well as for the reason that it is not expressed in the English language.]

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- Latin fellō Proto-Indo-European *-tisder. Proto-Italic *-tjō Latin -tiō Latin fellātiōlbor. English fellatio Learned borrowing from Latin fellātiō, from fellātus, perfect participle of fellō (“I suck, I fellate”). The word started to appear in medical literature in the 19th century but it was still treated as Latin. In 1919, the California Supreme Court struck down a law criminalizing fellatio because the state constitution required laws to be written in English. By the late 20th century, fellatio was treated as an English word.

This word in other languages

felación(Español)fellation(Français)Fellatio(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 "fellatio"?
"fellatio" is spelled F-E-L-L-A-T-I-O. The IPA pronunciation is /fəˈleɪ.ʃi.əʊ/.
What does "fellatio" mean?
As a noun, "fellatio" means: Performance of oral sex upon the penis.
How do you pronounce "fellatio"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fellatio" is /fəˈleɪ.ʃi.əʊ/. 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 "fellatio"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- Latin fellō Proto-Indo-European *-tisder. Proto-Italic *-tjō Latin -tiō Latin fellātiōlbor. English fellatio Learned borrowing from Latin fellātiō, from fellātus, perfect participle of fellō (“I suck, ... 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 "fellatio", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

feelgood#53,537feathery#53,535encroach#53,519frazzled#53,557

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list