onomatopoeia
/ˌɒnəˌmætəˈpiːə/
"onomatopoeia" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“onomatopoeia” is an uncommon English word, ranked #79,816 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #79,816
- frequency rank, English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The property of a word that sounds like what it represents.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | onomatopoeia |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌɒnəˌmætəˈpiːə/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Frequency rank | #79,816 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “onomatopoeia” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for onomatopoeia is 12 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌɒnəˌmætəˈpiːə/. Corpus data places it at rank #79,816 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for onomatopoeia, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin onomatopoeïa, from Ancient Greek ὀνοματοποιία (onomatopoiía, “the coining of a word in imitation of a sound”), from ὀνοματοποιέω (onomatopoiéō, “to coin names”), from ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”) + ποιέω (poiéō, “to make, to do, to produce”). B… The correct English form is onomatopoeia, spelled O-N-O-M-A-T-O-P-O-E-I-A.
Definition
- 1The property of a word that sounds like what it represents.
- 2A word that sounds like what it represents, such as "gurgle", "stutter", or "hiss".
- 3A word that sounds like what it represents, such as "gurgle", "stutter", or "hiss".
- 4The use of language whose sound imitates that which it names.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin onomatopoeïa, from Ancient Greek ὀνοματοποιία (onomatopoiía, “the coining of a word in imitation of a sound”), from ὀνοματοποιέω (onomatopoiéō, “to coin names”), from ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”) + ποιέω (poiéō, “to make, to do, to produce”). By surface analysis, onomato- + -poeia.
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); 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 "onomatopoeia"?
What does "onomatopoeia" mean?
How do you pronounce "onomatopoeia"?
What is the origin of the word "onomatopoeia"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “onomatopoeia”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-N-O-M-A-T-O-P-O-E-I-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌɒnəˌmætəˈpiːə/ (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
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.