lamprey
/ˈlæm.pɹi/
"lamprey" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lamprey” is uncommon English (frequency #68,379 among 16,425 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #68,379
- frequency rank, English
- 16,425
- “L” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 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.
| 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) |
Where “lamprey” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
lamprey is uncommon English at frequency #68,379 among 16,425 “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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Using “lamprey”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-A-M-P-R-E-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈlæm.pɹi/ (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
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.