harmattan
/ˌhɑːməˈtæn/
"harmattan" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“harmattan” is uncommon English (frequency #97,091 among 23,837 “H” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #97,091
- frequency rank, English
- 23,837
- “H” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A dry and dusty wind which blows from the Sahara over the Atlantic coast of West Africa in December, January and February, being a hot wind in some areas and a cold wind in others.
Corpus desk
Index EN-harmattan · harmattan · English
harmattan · rank #97,091 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #97,091
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 23,837
- PHOTO-FINISH Hamiltons
Nearest frequency peer: Hamiltons (-2 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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “harmattan”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- gunsmoke
gunsmoke
2,917 corpus weight
- Hagley
Hagley
2,915 corpus weight
- Hamiltons
Hamiltons
2,912 corpus weight
- harmattan
harmattan
2,910 corpus weight
- Hashemite
Hashemite
2,906 corpus weight
- hax
hax
2,903 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “harmattan” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | harmattan |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌhɑːməˈtæn/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #97,091 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “harmattan” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
harmattan is uncommon English at frequency #97,091 among 23,837 “H” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌhɑːməˈtæn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
harmattan doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Twi Akan haramata or a related word (whence also Spanish harmatán). The ultimate origin is supposed by some to be an Arabic word, but which one is uncertain; حَرَام (ḥarām, “accursed thing”) has been suggested. The correct English form is harmattan, spelled H-A-R-M-A-T-T-A-N.
Definition
- 1A dry and dusty wind which blows from the Sahara over the Atlantic coast of West Africa in December, January and February, being a hot wind in some areas and a cold wind in others.
- 2A season which spans the period in which the harmattan wind blows.
Etymology
From Twi Akan haramata or a related word (whence also Spanish harmatán). The ultimate origin is supposed by some to be an Arabic word, but which one is uncertain; حَرَام (ḥarām, “accursed thing”) has been suggested.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "harmattan", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency 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.