Kikuyu

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

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

The verdict

“Kikuyu” is uncommon English (frequency #56,844 among 1,236 “K” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#56,844
frequency rank, English
1,236
“K” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A member of a Bantu people of Kenya.

Corpus desk

Index EN-kikuyu · Kikuyu · English

Kikuyu · rank #56,844 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #56,844
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,236
  • PHOTO-FINISH Khawaja

Nearest frequency peer: Khawaja (-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 “Kikuyu”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Kikuyu
PropertyValue
HeadwordKikuyu
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters6
Frequency rank#56,844
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “Kikuyu” 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).Kikuyufalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Khawaja” (#56,843), “Kingsway” (#56,845), “ketogenic” (#56,842). Among 1,236 “K” headwords, “Kikuyu” is #56,844. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Kikuyu is uncommon English at frequency #56,844 among 1,236 “K” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A member of a Bantu people of Kenya.".

Kikuyu doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Kikuyu Gĩkũyũ. The correct English form is Kikuyu, spelled K-I-K-U-Y-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    A member of a Bantu people of Kenya.

Etymology

Borrowed from Kikuyu Gĩkũyũ.

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 "Kikuyu"?
"Kikuyu" is spelled K-I-K-U-Y-U.
What does "Kikuyu" mean?
As a noun, "Kikuyu" means: A member of a Bantu people of Kenya.
What is the origin of the word "Kikuyu"?
Borrowed from Kikuyu Gĩkũyũ. 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 "Kikuyu", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

kitted#56,848knifed#56,852lamina#56,858Lanark#56,859

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list