Gentoo

noun

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

"gentoo" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Gentoo” is uncommon English (frequency #61,490 among 18,276 “G” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#61,490
frequency rank, English
18,276
“G” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A non-Muslim inhabitant of India, a Hindu; specifically, in Southern India, an ethnic-Telugu.

Key facts for Gentoo
PropertyValue
HeadwordGentoo
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters6
Frequency rank#61,490
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Gentoo” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). Gentoo lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Gentoo is uncommon English at frequency #61,490 among 18,276 “G” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Gentoo doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Of Anglo-Indian origin (17th century), apparently a borrowing from Portuguese gentio (“heathen”) (compare gentile (“pagan”)). The correct English form is Gentoo, spelled G-E-N-T-O-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    A non-Muslim inhabitant of India, a Hindu; specifically, in Southern India, an ethnic-Telugu.
  2. 2
    The gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua), a species of penguin.

Etymology

Of Anglo-Indian origin (17th century), apparently a borrowing from Portuguese gentio (“heathen”) (compare gentile (“pagan”)).

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 "Gentoo"?
"Gentoo" is spelled G-E-N-T-O-O.
What does "Gentoo" mean?
As a noun, "Gentoo" means: A non-Muslim inhabitant of India, a Hindu; specifically, in Southern India, an ethnic-Telugu.
What is the origin of the word "Gentoo"?
Of Anglo-Indian origin (17th century), apparently a borrowing from Portuguese gentio (“heathen”) (compare gentile (“pagan”)). 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.

Using “Gentoo”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is G-E-N-T-O-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list