gladiolus
/ɡlædɪˈəʊləs/
"gladiolus" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gladiolus” is uncommon English (frequency #76,805 among 2,313 “G” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #76,805
- frequency rank, English
- 2,313
- “G” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The center part of the sternum.
Corpus desk
Index EN-gladiolus · gladiolus · English
gladiolus · rank #76,805 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #76,805
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,313
- PHOTO-FINISH gleaning
Nearest frequency peer: gleaning (+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 “gladiolus”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- geum
geum
23,203 corpus weight
- gladiolus
gladiolus
23,196 corpus weight
- gleaning
gleaning
23,195 corpus weight
- Godley
Godley
23,192 corpus weight
- Gogglebox
Gogglebox
23,191 corpus weight
- grabby
grabby
23,187 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “gladiolus” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | gladiolus |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɡlædɪˈəʊləs/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #76,805 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “gladiolus” in English
Rare enough to double-check
gladiolus is uncommon English at frequency #76,805 among 2,313 “G” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɡlædɪˈəʊləs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for gladiolus in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin gladiolus (“little sword, sword lily”), diminutive of gladius (“sword”). The correct English form is gladiolus, spelled G-L-A-D-I-O-L-U-S.
Definition
- 1The center part of the sternum.
- 2Any of several flowering plants, of the genus Gladiolus, having sword-shaped leaves and showy flowers on spikes; gladiola.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how gladiolus appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Hester Earle and Violet Wayne were moving about the aisle with bundles of wheat-ears and streamers of ivy, for the harvest thanksgiving was shortly to be celebrated, while the vicar stood waiting for their directions on the chancel steps with a great handful of crimson gladioli.
Etymology
From Latin gladiolus (“little sword, sword lily”), diminutive of gladius (“sword”).
This word in other languages
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "gladiolus", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).