meerkat

/ˈmɪəkat/

//ˈmɪəkat// noun

"meerkat" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“meerkat” is uncommon English (frequency #53,695 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,695
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Suricata suricatta, a small carnivorous mammal of the mongoose family, from the Kalahari Desert, known for its habit of standing on its hind legs.

Corpus desk

Index EN-meerkat · meerkat · English

meerkat · rank #53,695 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #53,695
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH medulla

Nearest frequency peer: medulla (-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 “meerkat”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for meerkat
PropertyValue
Headwordmeerkat
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmɪəkat/
Letters7
Frequency rank#53,695
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “meerkat” 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).meerkatfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “medulla” (#53,694), “mesenchymal” (#53,696), “medico” (#53,693). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “meerkat” is #53,695. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

meerkat is uncommon English at frequency #53,695 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈmɪəkat/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Suricata suricatta, a small carnivorous mammal of the mongoose family, from the Kalahari Desert, known for its habit of standing on its hind legs.".

meerkat doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Afrikaans meerkat, transferred use of Dutch meerkat (“guenon [monkey]”), from Middle Dutch meercatte (literally “sea cat”), compare English mercat. Sometimes suggested to be influenced by or derived from an Indian source; compare Hindi मर्कट (markaṭ, “… The correct English form is meerkat, spelled M-E-E-R-K-A-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Suricata suricatta, a small carnivorous mammal of the mongoose family, from the Kalahari Desert, known for its habit of standing on its hind legs.

Etymology

From Afrikaans meerkat, transferred use of Dutch meerkat (“guenon [monkey]”), from Middle Dutch meercatte (literally “sea cat”), compare English mercat. Sometimes suggested to be influenced by or derived from an Indian source; compare Hindi मर्कट (markaṭ, “ape, monkey”) and Sanskrit मर्कट (markaṭa). Note however Old High German merikazza, so any influence from Indo-Aryan would have to be exceptionally early.

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

How do you spell "meerkat"?
"meerkat" is spelled M-E-E-R-K-A-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɪəkat/.
What does "meerkat" mean?
As a noun, "meerkat" means: Suricata suricatta, a small carnivorous mammal of the mongoose family, from the Kalahari Desert, known for its habit of standing on its hind legs.
How do you pronounce "meerkat"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "meerkat" is /ˈmɪəkat/. 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 "meerkat"?
From Afrikaans meerkat, transferred use of Dutch meerkat (“guenon [monkey]”), from Middle Dutch meercatte (literally “sea cat”), compare English mercat. Sometimes suggested to be influenced by or derived from an Indian source; compare Hindi मर्कट ... 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 "meerkat", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list