moorhen
/ˈmʊəɹˌhɛn/
"moorhen" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“moorhen” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of various medium-sized water birds of the genus Gallinula, of the rail family, that feed in open water margins.
Corpus desk
Index EN-moorhen · moorhen · English
moorhen · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "M" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | moorhen |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmʊəɹˌhɛn/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “moorhen” in English
Rare enough to double-check
moorhen is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈmʊəɹˌhɛn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for moorhen, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English morhen, perhaps from Old English *mōrhenn, an alteration of Old English worhenn (compare coordinate masculine term mōrhana, a possible corruption of worhana (“pheasant”)), equivalent to moor + hen. The correct English form is moorhen, spelled M-O-O-R-H-E-N.
Definition
- 1Any of various medium-sized water birds of the genus Gallinula, of the rail family, that feed in open water margins.
- 2A female red grouse, Lagopus lagopus scotica.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how moorhen appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The pond was another favourite place to visit. Moorhens strutted from the neighbouring bushes, and a bevy of Muscovy ducks, a study in black, white and red, waddled from the farmyard hard by to enjoy a refreshing splash.
Etymology
From Middle English morhen, perhaps from Old English *mōrhenn, an alteration of Old English worhenn (compare coordinate masculine term mōrhana, a possible corruption of worhana (“pheasant”)), equivalent to moor + hen.
Synonyms
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.