kiang

/kiˈɑŋ/

//kiˈɑŋ// noun

"kiang" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“kiang” is an uncommon English word, ranked #96,125 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#96,125
frequency rank, English
5
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A large wild ass, Equus kiang, native to the Tibetan Plateau.

Key facts for kiang
PropertyValue
Headwordkiang
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kiˈɑŋ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#96,125
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “kiang” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). kiang lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for kiang is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kiˈɑŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #96,125 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A large wild ass, Equus kiang, native to the Tibetan Plateau.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for kiang, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Tibetan རྐྱང (rkyang, “wild ass”). The correct English form is kiang, spelled K-I-A-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    A large wild ass, Equus kiang, native to the Tibetan Plateau.

Etymology

From Tibetan རྐྱང (rkyang, “wild ass”).

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 "kiang"?
"kiang" is spelled K-I-A-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /kiˈɑŋ/.
What does "kiang" mean?
As a noun, "kiang" means: A large wild ass, Equus kiang, native to the Tibetan Plateau.
How do you pronounce "kiang"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "kiang" is /kiˈɑŋ/. 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 "kiang"?
From Tibetan རྐྱང (rkyang, “wild ass”). 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.

Using “kiang”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is K-I-A-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /kiˈɑŋ/ (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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list