gecko
/ˈɡɛk.əʊ/
"gecko" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gecko” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #32,410 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #32,410
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any lizard in the infraorder Gekkota.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | gecko |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡɛk.əʊ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #32,410 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “gecko” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for gecko is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɡɛk.əʊ/. Corpus data places it at rank #32,410 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for gecko, with forms such as "egcko", "gceko", and "geccko". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "geek", "geeks", "geeky", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: The modern form was probably borrowed into English and other European languages from Dutch gekko (1718). Contemporary English forms were chacco (1711) and jackoa (1724). The further origin is not quite clear. Some sources mention a supposed Malay gekok, gek… The correct English form is gecko, spelled G-E-C-K-O.
Definition
- 1Any lizard in the infraorder Gekkota.
- 2Any lizard of the family Gekkonidae of small, carnivorous, mostly nocturnal animals with large eyes and adhesive toes enabling them to climb on vertical and upside-down surfaces.
Etymology
The modern form was probably borrowed into English and other European languages from Dutch gekko (1718). Contemporary English forms were chacco (1711) and jackoa (1724). The further origin is not quite clear. Some sources mention a supposed Malay gekok, gekoq, or gekop, which would be imitative of the gecko’s chirping sound. Another theory derives it from Acehnese gèh-gòh (“busy”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: egcko,gceko,geccko,geckko,gecok,gekco,ggecko
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of gecko - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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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Using “gecko”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-E-C-K-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɡɛk.əʊ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “geek” - see the side-by-side comparison. gecko vs geek
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.