imago
/ɪˈmeɪɡəʊ/
"imago" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“imago” is uncommon English (frequency #64,437 among 2,140 “I” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #64,437
- frequency rank, English
- 2,140
- “I” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The final developmental stage of an insect after undergoing metamorphosis.
Corpus desk
Index EN-imago · imago · English
imago · rank #64,437 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #64,437
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,140
- PHOTO-FINISH imaginatively
Nearest frequency peer: imaginatively (-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 “imago”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- hypothalamic
hypothalamic
35,568 corpus weight
- ignoramus
ignoramus
35,566 corpus weight
- imaginative…
imaginatively
35,565 corpus weight
- imago
imago
35,564 corpus weight
- incinerate
incinerate
35,562 corpus weight
- indictable
indictable
35,560 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “imago” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | imago |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɪˈmeɪɡəʊ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #64,437 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “imago” in English
Rare enough to double-check
imago is uncommon English at frequency #64,437 among 2,140 “I” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɪˈmeɪɡəʊ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for imago in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin imāgō. Doublet of image. Compare typologically a Russian term for coordinate larva: личи́нка (ličínka) (akin to лик (lik)). The correct English form is imago, spelled I-M-A-G-O.
Definition
- 1The final developmental stage of an insect after undergoing metamorphosis.
- 2An idealised concept of a loved one, formed in childhood and retained unconsciously into adult life, the basis for the psychological formation of personality archetypes.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how imago appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
‘But still,’ he said to himself, drawing the metamorphoses of a red admiral, egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and imago on his pad, ‘what shall I say to him when we meet?’
Etymology
From Latin imāgō. Doublet of image. Compare typologically a Russian term for coordinate larva: личи́нка (ličínka) (akin to лик (lik)).
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "imago", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).