lamprey
/ˈlæm.pɹi/
"lamprey" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lamprey” is uncommon English (frequency #68,379 among 2,297 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #68,379
- frequency rank, English
- 2,297
- “L” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any long slender primitive eel-like freshwater and saltwater fish of the order Petromyzontiformes, having a sucking mouth with rasping teeth but no jaw.
Corpus desk
Index EN-lamprey · lamprey · English
lamprey · rank #68,379 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #68,379
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,297
- PHOTO-FINISH lameness
Nearest frequency peer: lameness (-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 “lamprey”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- lacerated
lacerated
31,625 corpus weight
- lameness
lameness
31,623 corpus weight
- lamprey
lamprey
31,622 corpus weight
- lariat
lariat
31,621 corpus weight
- layperson
layperson
31,620 corpus weight
- leatherhead
leatherhead
31,619 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “lamprey” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lamprey |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈlæm.pɹi/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #68,379 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “lamprey” in English
Rare enough to double-check
lamprey is uncommon English at frequency #68,379 among 2,297 “L” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈlæm.pɹi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Any long slender primitive eel-like freshwater and saltwater fish of the order Petromyzontiformes, having a sucking mouth with rasping teeth but no jaw.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for lamprey in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English laumprei, from Old French lampreie (modern French lamproie), from Medieval Latin lampreda, possibly alteration of Late Latin lampetra (“lamprey”), whose further origin is unknown, though it is traditionally thought to be a combination of… The correct English form is lamprey, spelled L-A-M-P-R-E-Y.
Definition
- 1Any long slender primitive eel-like freshwater and saltwater fish of the order Petromyzontiformes, having a sucking mouth with rasping teeth but no jaw.
Etymology
From Middle English laumprei, from Old French lampreie (modern French lamproie), from Medieval Latin lampreda, possibly alteration of Late Latin lampetra (“lamprey”), whose further origin is unknown, though it is traditionally thought to be a combination of lambō (“I lick, lap”) + petra (“stone, rock”). Doublet of limpet, which derives from Latin.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "lamprey", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).