goitre

/ˈɡɔɪ.tə/

//ˈɡɔɪ.tə// noun

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

The verdict

“goitre” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An enlargement of the front and sides of the neck caused by inflammation of the thyroid gland.

Key facts for goitre
PropertyValue
Headwordgoitre
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɡɔɪ.tə/
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “goitre” sits in English frequency

goitre falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

goitre is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɡɔɪ.tə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An enlargement of the front and sides of the neck caused by inflammation of the thyroid gland.".

goitre doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. 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: Borrowed from French, either from Old French goitron (“throat, neck, goitre”), itself from Vulgar Latin *gutturiō, *gutturiōnem (“throat, goitre-like protrusions”), from Latin guttur, or a back-formation from French goitreux (“goitered”). The correct English form is goitre, spelled G-O-I-T-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    An enlargement of the front and sides of the neck caused by inflammation of the thyroid gland.

Etymology

Borrowed from French, either from Old French goitron (“throat, neck, goitre”), itself from Vulgar Latin *gutturiō, *gutturiōnem (“throat, goitre-like protrusions”), from Latin guttur, or a back-formation from French goitreux (“goitered”).

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "goitre"?
"goitre" is spelled G-O-I-T-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɡɔɪ.tə/.
What does "goitre" mean?
As a noun, "goitre" means: An enlargement of the front and sides of the neck caused by inflammation of the thyroid gland.
How do you pronounce "goitre"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "goitre" is /ˈɡɔɪ.tə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "goitre"?
Borrowed from French, either from Old French goitron (“throat, neck, goitre”), itself from Vulgar Latin *gutturiō, *gutturiōnem (“throat, goitre-like protrusions”), from Latin guttur, or a back-formation from French goitreux (“goitered”). 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 “goitre”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is G-O-I-T-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈɡɔɪ.tə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list