ginger
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
6 characters
Language
English
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "ginger", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "ginger" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "ginger" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
ginger is aEnglishnoun. It means: The pungent aromatic rhizome of a tropical Asian herb, Zingiber officinale, used as a spice and as a stimulant and acarminative. Pronounced /ˈdʒɪndʒə/. It ranks #7,921 in English word frequency. Often confused with giver and Gunner.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ginger |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdʒɪndʒə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #7,921 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for ginger is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdʒɪndʒə/. Corpus data places it at rank #7,921 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for ginger, with forms such as "gginger", "gigner", and "ginegr". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "giver", "Gunner", "Gunter", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Old Tamil 𑀇𑀜𑁆𑀘𑀺 (iñci) Proto-Dravidian *wēr Old Tamil 𑀯𑁂𑀭𑁆 (vēr) Old Tamil 𑀇𑀜𑁆𑀘𑀺𑀯𑁂𑀭𑁆 (iñcivēr)bor. Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀲𑀺𑀁𑀕𑀺𑀯𑁂𑀭 (siṃgivera)der. Ancient Greek ζιγγίβερις (zingíberis)bor. Late Latin zingiberi Late Latin … Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is ginger, spelled G-I-N-G-E-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1The pungent aromatic rhizome of a tropical Asian herb, Zingiber officinale, used as a spice and as a stimulant and acarminative.
- 2The plant that produces this rhizome.
- 3Other species belonging to the same family, Zingiberaceae, especially those of the genus Zingiber
- 4A reddish-brown color.
- 5A person with reddish hair; a redhead.
- 6Vitality, vigour, liveliness (of character).
- 7Ginger ale, or can or bottle of such (especially if dry).
- 8Any fizzy soft drink, or can or bottle of such; pop; soda.
Etymology
Etymology tree Old Tamil 𑀇𑀜𑁆𑀘𑀺 (iñci) Proto-Dravidian *wēr Old Tamil 𑀯𑁂𑀭𑁆 (vēr) Old Tamil 𑀇𑀜𑁆𑀘𑀺𑀯𑁂𑀭𑁆 (iñcivēr)bor. Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀲𑀺𑀁𑀕𑀺𑀯𑁂𑀭 (siṃgivera)der. Ancient Greek ζιγγίβερις (zingíberis)bor. Late Latin zingiberi Late Latin gingiberbor. Proto-West Germanic *gingiberō Old English gingifer ▲ Old French gingembreinflu. Middle English gingivere Middle English gingere English ginger Inherited from Middle English gingere, alteration of gingivere, from Old English gingifer, gingiber (influenced by Old French gingembre), from Medieval Latin gingiber, zingiber, from Latin zingiberi, from Late Ancient Greek ζιγγίβερις (zingíberis), from , ultimately from Old Tamil 𑀇𑀜𑁆𑀘𑀺𑀯𑁂𑀭𑁆 (iñcivēr), a compound of 𑀇𑀜𑁆𑀘𑀺 (iñci, “ginger”) and 𑀯𑁂𑀭𑁆 (vēr, “root”) (compare modern Tamil இஞ்சிவேர் (iñcivēr), from இஞ்சி (iñci, “ginger”) + வேர் (vēr, “root”)).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: gginger,gigner,ginegr,gingerr,gingger,gingre,ginnger,gniger,ignger
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for ginger
Misspelling Variants of "ginger"
Frequency rank: #7,921 in English
Frequently Asked Questions
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter G in our English index: