foxglove

noun

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

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

The verdict

“foxglove” is uncommon English (frequency #83,257 among 2,507 “F” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#83,257
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of genus Digitalis of about 20 species of herbaceous biennials native to the Old World, certain of which are prized for their showy flowers. The drug digitalis or digoxin was first isolated fro...

Corpus desk

Index EN-foxglove · foxglove · English

foxglove · rank #83,257 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #83,257
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH foraminifera

Nearest frequency peer: foraminifera (-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 “foxglove”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for foxglove
PropertyValue
Headwordfoxglove
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Frequency rank#83,257
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “foxglove” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).foxglovefalls 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: “foraminifera” (#83,256), “Franko” (#83,258), “flory” (#83,254). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “foxglove” is #83,257. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

foxglove is uncommon English at frequency #83,257 among 2,507 “F” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Any of genus Digitalis of about 20 species of herbaceous biennials native to the Old World, certain of which are prized for their showy flowers. The drug digitalis or digoxin was first isolated fro...".

No generated misspelling entries exist for foxglove in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English fox-glove, foxes glove, from Old English foxes glōfa (“foxglove”). By surface analysis, fox + glove. The correct English form is foxglove, spelled F-O-X-G-L-O-V-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of genus Digitalis of about 20 species of herbaceous biennials native to the Old World, certain of which are prized for their showy flowers. The drug digitalis or digoxin was first isolated from the plant.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Jemima alighted rather heavily, and began to waddle about in search of a convenient dry nesting-place. She rather fancied a tree-stump amongst some tall fox-gloves.
  2. I wonder whether the witches would be wearing on their fingers their ornaments of foxglove blossoms, often called witches' bells or harebells, sometimes known as witches' thimbles.

Etymology

From Middle English fox-glove, foxes glove, from Old English foxes glōfa (“foxglove”). By surface analysis, fox + glove.

This word in other languages

digital(Español)digitale(Français)Fingerhut(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 "foxglove"?
"foxglove" is spelled F-O-X-G-L-O-V-E.
What does "foxglove" mean?
As a noun, "foxglove" means: Any of genus Digitalis of about 20 species of herbaceous biennials native to the Old World, certain of which are prized for their showy flowers. The drug digitalis or digoxin was first isolated fro...
What is the origin of the word "foxglove"?
From Middle English fox-glove, foxes glove, from Old English foxes glōfa (“foxglove”). By surface analysis, fox + glove. 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 "foxglove", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

firebomb#83,250funereal#83,265eventide#83,231globulin#83,289

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list