onomatopoeia

/ˌɒnəˌmætəˈpiːə/

//ˌɒnəˌmætəˈpiːə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"onomatopoeia" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“onomatopoeia” is uncommon English (frequency #79,816 among 1,431 “O” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#79,816
frequency rank, English
1,431
“O” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The property of a word that sounds like what it represents.

Corpus desk

Index EN-onomatopoeia · onomatopoeia · English

onomatopoeia · rank #79,816 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #79,816
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-8 8 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,431
  • PHOTO-FINISH OMC

Nearest frequency peer: OMC (-2 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 “onomatopoeia”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for onomatopoeia
PropertyValue
Headwordonomatopoeia
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌɒnəˌmætəˈpiːə/
Letters12
Frequency rank#79,816
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “onomatopoeia” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).onomatopoeiafalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “OMC” (#79,814), “OPD” (#79,819), “olay” (#79,812). Among 1,431 “O” headwords, “onomatopoeia” is #79,816. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

onomatopoeia is uncommon English at frequency #79,816 among 1,431 “O” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌɒnəˌmætəˈpiːə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

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

  1. 1
    The property of a word that sounds like what it represents.
  2. 2
    A word that sounds like what it represents, such as "gurgle", "stutter", or "hiss".
  3. 3
    A word that sounds like what it represents, such as "gurgle", "stutter", or "hiss".
  4. 4
    The use of language whose sound imitates that which it names.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how onomatopoeia appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. A woorde making called of the Grecians Onomatapoia, is when wee make wordes of our owne minde, such as bee derived from the nature of things.

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

onomatopephonomimeechoismimitative harmonymimesisphonomimesissound symbolism

This word in other languages

onomatopeya(Español)onomatopée(Français)Lautmalerei(Deutsch)onomatopeia(Português)

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"?
"onomatopoeia" is spelled O-N-O-M-A-T-O-P-O-E-I-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌɒnəˌmætəˈpiːə/.
What does "onomatopoeia" mean?
As a noun, "onomatopoeia" means: The property of a word that sounds like what it represents.
How do you pronounce "onomatopoeia"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "onomatopoeia" is /ˌɒnəˌmætəˈpiːə/. 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 "onomatopoeia"?
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 pr... 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 "onomatopoeia", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 12 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

novelization#79,801Northumbrian#79,799phytophthora#79,854mercantilism#79,753

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list