keirin

noun

"keirin" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“keirin” is uncommon English (frequency #70,802 among 1,236 “K” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#70,802
frequency rank, English
1,236
“K” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A form of track cycling originating in Japan, where riders must initially race behind a motorised pace-setter, the derny.

Corpus desk

Index EN-keirin · keirin · English

keirin · rank #70,802 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #70,802
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,236
  • PHOTO-FINISH kersey

Nearest frequency peer: kersey (+3 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 “keirin”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for keirin
PropertyValue
Headwordkeirin
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters6
Frequency rank#70,802
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “keirin” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).keirinfalls 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: “kersey” (#70,805), “Jurong” (#70,798), “Khoury” (#70,807). Among 1,236 “K” headwords, “keirin” is #70,802. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

keirin is uncommon English at frequency #70,802 among 1,236 “K” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A form of track cycling originating in Japan, where riders must initially race behind a motorised pace-setter, the derny.".

keirin has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Japanese 競輪 (keirin, “racing cycles”). The correct English form is keirin, spelled K-E-I-R-I-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A form of track cycling originating in Japan, where riders must initially race behind a motorised pace-setter, the derny.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The keirin is one of the few track cycling events not originating in the West, having been developed in Japan. […] Keirin is extrememly popular in Japan, in particular because of gambling on the races.
  2. Japan, however, has developed the distinctive cycling subculture of Keirin racing. Launched in Japanese velodromes in 1948 as a state regulated system designed to cream-off a percentage of stake money to support Japan's newly reconstituted bicycle industry […]

Etymology

From Japanese 競輪 (keirin, “racing cycles”).

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 "keirin"?
"keirin" is spelled K-E-I-R-I-N.
What does "keirin" mean?
As a noun, "keirin" means: A form of track cycling originating in Japan, where riders must initially race behind a motorised pace-setter, the derny.
What is the origin of the word "keirin"?
From Japanese 競輪 (keirin, “racing cycles”). 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 "keirin", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list