kuru

/ˈkʉː.ɹʉː/

//ˈkʉː.ɹʉː// noun

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

"kuru" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“kuru” is uncommon English (frequency #71,640 among 1,236 “K” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#71,640
frequency rank, English
1,236
“K” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A chronic, progressive, fatal central nervous system disease found mainly among the Fore and neighboring peoples of New Guinea, caused by a prion that probably resembles the scrapie agent of sheep,...

Corpus desk

Index EN-kuru · kuru · English

kuru · rank #71,640 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #71,640
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,236
  • PHOTO-FINISH Kristof

Nearest frequency peer: Kristof (-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 “kuru”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for kuru
PropertyValue
Headwordkuru
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkʉː.ɹʉː/
Letters4
Frequency rank#71,640
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “kuru” 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).kurufalls 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: “Kristof” (#71,639), “kye” (#71,641), “Kyler” (#71,642). Among 1,236 “K” headwords, “kuru” is #71,640. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

kuru is uncommon English at frequency #71,640 among 1,236 “K” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkʉː.ɹʉː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A chronic, progressive, fatal central nervous system disease found mainly among the Fore and neighboring peoples of New Guinea, caused by a prion that probably resembles the scrapie agent of sheep,...".

kuru doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Fore kúru (literally “trembling, shivering”). Perhaps eventually from Proto-Gorokan *kút(V) (“dangling, shaking”) if cognate with the reduplicated element of Yagaria gúli gúli hu- (“be loose, rattle”). The correct English form is kuru, spelled K-U-R-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    A chronic, progressive, fatal central nervous system disease found mainly among the Fore and neighboring peoples of New Guinea, caused by a prion that probably resembles the scrapie agent of sheep, transmissible to nonhuman primates, and believed to be transmitted by ritual cannibalism.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. By the late 1950s, kuru was the leading cause of death among Fore women, and it had killed so many that men outnumbered women by three to one.

Etymology

From Fore kúru (literally “trembling, shivering”). Perhaps eventually from Proto-Gorokan *kút(V) (“dangling, shaking”) if cognate with the reduplicated element of Yagaria gúli gúli hu- (“be loose, rattle”).

This word in other languages

kuru(Français)Kuru(Deutsch)kuru(Português)

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 "kuru"?
"kuru" is spelled K-U-R-U. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkʉː.ɹʉː/.
What does "kuru" mean?
As a noun, "kuru" means: A chronic, progressive, fatal central nervous system disease found mainly among the Fore and neighboring peoples of New Guinea, caused by a prion that probably resembles the scrapie agent of sheep,...
How do you pronounce "kuru"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "kuru" is /ˈkʉː.ɹʉː/. 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 "kuru"?
From Fore kúru (literally “trembling, shivering”). Perhaps eventually from Proto-Gorokan *kút(V) (“dangling, shaking”) if cognate with the reduplicated element of Yagaria gúli gúli hu- (“be loose, rattle”). 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 "kuru", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

lait#71,646lill#71,659IANA#71,580hizb#71,569

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list