kitten
/ˈkɪt.n̩/
"kitten" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“kitten” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #12,264 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #12,264
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 8
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A young cat, especially before sexual maturity (reached at about seven months).
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | kitten |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkɪt.n̩/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #12,264 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 8 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “kitten” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for kitten is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkɪt.n̩/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,264 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for kitten, with forms such as "iktten", "kiten", and "kitetn". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "kitty", "Kristen", "knitted", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English kitoun, kytton, kyton, keton (“kitten”), of obscure origin. Seemingly from, and usually explained as being from, unattested Anglo-Norman *kitoun, *ketun (compare Old French chitoun, cheton, chaton (“kitten”), diminutive of cat, chat (“ca… The correct English form is kitten, spelled K-I-T-T-E-N.
Definition
- 1A young cat, especially before sexual maturity (reached at about seven months).
- 2A young rabbit, rat, hedgehog, squirrel, fox, beaver, badger, etc.
- 3A moth of the genus Furcula.
- 4A term of endearment, especially for a woman.
- 5A term of endearment, especially for a woman.
Etymology
From Middle English kitoun, kytton, kyton, keton (“kitten”), of obscure origin. Seemingly from, and usually explained as being from, unattested Anglo-Norman *kitoun, *ketun (compare Old French chitoun, cheton, chaton (“kitten”), diminutive of cat, chat (“cat”)); whence Modern French chaton (“kitten”). Similar words of Germanic origin may have reinforced this word; compare English kitling (“kit, kitten”), Low German Kitten (“kitten”), Icelandic kettlingur (“kitten”), Middle English chitte ("whelp, pup", see chit). The idea that kitoun, rather than being of Anglo-Norman origin, was in fact a purely Germanic derivation from one of these words is etymologically problematic, but cannot be definitively ruled out.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: iktten,kiten,kitetn,kittenn,kittne,kkitten,ktiten
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of kitten - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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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Using “kitten”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is K-I-T-T-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkɪt.n̩/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “kitty” - see the side-by-side comparison. kitten vs kitty
- 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.