jackdaw
/ˈdʒækˌdɔː/
"jackdaw" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“jackdaw” is an uncommon English word, ranked #79,649 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #79,649
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A bird of the genus Coloeus, similar in appearance to crows and found within the same family; traditionally associated with church towers and ruins, where it frequently likes to nest.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | jackdaw |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdʒækˌdɔː/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #79,649 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “jackdaw” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for jackdaw is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdʒækˌdɔː/. Corpus data places it at rank #79,649 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A bird of the genus Coloeus, similar in appearance to crows and found within the same family; traditionally associated with church towers and ruins, where it frequently likes to nest.".
Zero misspellings are on record for jackdaw in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Compound of jack + daw. The first element, also present in Low German (North Saxon) Jöker (“jackdaw”), may refer either to its characteristic call, often represented as tchak-tchak, maybe influenced by association with the name Jack. The second element mean… The correct English form is jackdaw, spelled J-A-C-K-D-A-W.
Definition
- 1A bird of the genus Coloeus, similar in appearance to crows and found within the same family; traditionally associated with church towers and ruins, where it frequently likes to nest.
Etymology
Compound of jack + daw. The first element, also present in Low German (North Saxon) Jöker (“jackdaw”), may refer either to its characteristic call, often represented as tchak-tchak, maybe influenced by association with the name Jack. The second element means “jackdaw” in itself, from Old English *dāwe, from Proto-Germanic *dēhǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰēk- (“a daw, starling, thrush, similar birds”). Cognate with Old Prussian doacke (“starling”), Latin faccilāre (“the sound or timbre of the thrush”), and German Dohle (“jackdaw”).
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 "jackdaw"?
What does "jackdaw" mean?
How do you pronounce "jackdaw"?
What is the origin of the word "jackdaw"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “jackdaw”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is J-A-C-K-D-A-W - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈdʒækˌdɔː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.