icterus

noun

"icterus" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency English
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An excess of bile pigments in the blood; jaundice.

Corpus desk

Index EN-icterus · icterus · English

icterus · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "I" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for icterus
PropertyValue
Headwordicterus
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “icterus” in English

icterusranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

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

Rare enough to double-check

icterus is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

icterus has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From the Latin icterus, from the Ancient Greek ἴκτερος (íkteros, “jaundice”). The correct English form is icterus, spelled I-C-T-E-R-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    An excess of bile pigments in the blood; jaundice.
  2. 2
    A yellowish appearance in plants.

Etymology

From the Latin icterus, from the Ancient Greek ἴκτερος (íkteros, “jaundice”).

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 "icterus"?
"icterus" is spelled I-C-T-E-R-U-S.
What does "icterus" mean?
As a noun, "icterus" means: An excess of bile pigments in the blood; jaundice.
What is the origin of the word "icterus"?
From the Latin icterus, from the Ancient Greek ἴκτερος (íkteros, “jaundice”). 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list