hiragana

/ˌhɪ.ɹəˈɡæ.nə/

//ˌhɪ.ɹəˈɡæ.nə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"hiragana" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“hiragana” is uncommon English (frequency #67,503 among 2,646 “H” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#67,503
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The main syllabary for the Japanese language, used to represent native Japanese words, including particles, and when kanji is used, to represent verb and adjective endings.

Corpus desk

Index EN-hiragana · hiragana · English

hiragana · rank #67,503 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #67,503
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH histrionic

Nearest frequency peer: histrionic (+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 “hiragana”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for hiragana
PropertyValue
Headwordhiragana
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌhɪ.ɹəˈɡæ.nə/
Letters8
Frequency rank#67,503
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “hiragana” 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).hiraganafalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “histrionic” (#67,504), “hoary” (#67,505), “Hegarty” (#67,500). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “hiragana” is #67,503. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

hiragana is uncommon English at frequency #67,503 among 2,646 “H” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌhɪ.ɹəˈɡæ.nə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for hiragana in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Japanese 平(ひら)仮(が)名(な) (hiragana). The correct English form is hiragana, spelled H-I-R-A-G-A-N-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    The main syllabary for the Japanese language, used to represent native Japanese words, including particles, and when kanji is used, to represent verb and adjective endings.
  2. 2
    A letter of this syllabary.

Etymology

From Japanese 平(ひら)仮(が)名(な) (hiragana).

This word in other languages

hiragana(Español)hiragana(Français)Hiragana(Deutsch)

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 "hiragana"?
"hiragana" is spelled H-I-R-A-G-A-N-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌhɪ.ɹəˈɡæ.nə/.
What does "hiragana" mean?
As a noun, "hiragana" means: The main syllabary for the Japanese language, used to represent native Japanese words, including particles, and when kanji is used, to represent verb and adjective endings.
How do you pronounce "hiragana"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hiragana" is /ˌhɪ.ɹəˈɡæ.nə/. 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 "hiragana"?
From Japanese 平(ひら)仮(が)名(な) (hiragana). 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 "hiragana", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

hydrogel#67,514Gatineau#67,474Fujimori#67,467fuckhead#67,466

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list