herbivore

/ˈhɜːbɪvɔː(ɹ)/

//ˈhɜːbɪvɔː(ɹ)// noun

"herbivore" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“herbivore” is uncommon English (frequency #60,153 among 2,646 “H” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#60,153
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An organism that feeds chiefly on plants; an animal that feeds on herbage or vegetation as the main part of its diet.

Corpus desk

Index EN-herbivore · herbivore · English

herbivore · rank #60,153 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #60,153
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH Hepworth

Nearest frequency peer: Hepworth (-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 “herbivore”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “herbivore” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for herbivore
PropertyValue
Headwordherbivore
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈhɜːbɪvɔː(ɹ)/
Letters9
Frequency rank#60,153
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “herbivore” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).herbivorefalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Hepworth” (#60,152), “herewith” (#60,154), “Hewett” (#60,155). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “herbivore” is #60,153. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

herbivore is uncommon English at frequency #60,153 among 2,646 “H” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈhɜːbɪvɔː(ɹ)/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An organism that feeds chiefly on plants; an animal that feeds on herbage or vegetation as the main part of its diet.".

No misspelling variants are generated for herbivore in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French herbivore, from Latin herbivorus. By surface analysis, herb (“herbage”) + -i- + -vore. The correct English form is herbivore, spelled H-E-R-B-I-V-O-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    An organism that feeds chiefly on plants; an animal that feeds on herbage or vegetation as the main part of its diet.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how herbivore appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. It is unlikely that any member of the hominin clade was either an obligate herbivore or an obligate carnivore

Etymology

From French herbivore, from Latin herbivorus. By surface analysis, herb (“herbage”) + -i- + -vore.

Synonyms

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

How do you spell "herbivore"?
"herbivore" is spelled H-E-R-B-I-V-O-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhɜːbɪvɔː(ɹ)/.
What does "herbivore" mean?
As a noun, "herbivore" means: An organism that feeds chiefly on plants; an animal that feeds on herbage or vegetation as the main part of its diet.
How do you pronounce "herbivore"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "herbivore" is /ˈhɜːbɪvɔː(ɹ)/. 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 "herbivore"?
From French herbivore, from Latin herbivorus. By surface analysis, herb (“herbage”) + -i- + -vore. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "herbivore", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list