leopard
/ˈlɛp.əd/
"leopard" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“leopard” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #13,186 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #13,186
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Panthera pardus, a large wild cat with a spotted coat native to Africa and Asia, especially the male of the species (in contrast to leopardess).
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 | leopard |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈlɛp.əd/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #13,186 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “leopard” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for leopard is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈlɛp.əd/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,186 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for leopard, with forms such as "elopard", "leoaprd", and "leopadr". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "Leopold", "Leonard", "Lampard", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English leopard, leopart, lepard, leperd, from Old French leopard (“leopard”), from Late Latin leopardus (“leopon, lipard”) from late Ancient Greek λεόπαρδος (leópardos, “leopon, lipard”), from λέων (léōn, “lion”) + πάρδος (párdos, “pard, male l… The correct English form is leopard, spelled L-E-O-P-A-R-D.
Definition
- 1Panthera pardus, a large wild cat with a spotted coat native to Africa and Asia, especially the male of the species (in contrast to leopardess).
- 2A similar-looking, large wild cat named after the leopard.
- 3A similar-looking, large wild cat named after the leopard.
- 4A similar-looking, large wild cat named after the leopard.
- 5A lion passant guardant.
- 6Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Phalanta, having black markings on an orange base.
Etymology
From Middle English leopard, leopart, lepard, leperd, from Old French leopard (“leopard”), from Late Latin leopardus (“leopon, lipard”) from late Ancient Greek λεόπαρδος (leópardos, “leopon, lipard”), from λέων (léōn, “lion”) + πάρδος (párdos, “pard, male leopard”), from earlier πάρδαλις (párdalis, “leopard”), probably from an unattested Old Persian [Term?] term ancestral to Middle Persian palang, Khwarezmian plyk, Sogdian [script needed] (pwrδnk), Pashto پړانګ (pṛāng). Compare Persian پلنگ (palang) and Sanskrit पृदाकु (pṛdāku, “panther”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: elopard,leoaprd,leopadr,leopardd,leoparrd,leoppard,leoprad,lepoard,lleopard,loepard
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of leopard - 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 “leopard”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-E-O-P-A-R-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈlɛp.əd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Leopold” - see the side-by-side comparison. leopard vs Leopold
- 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.