orangutan
/əˌɹæŋ.uːˈtæn/
"orangutan" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“orangutan” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #37,126. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #37,126
- frequency rank, English
- 15,494
- “O” headwords
- 13
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An arboreal ape, characterised by their shaggy reddish-brown coat and long arms, which comprise the genus Pongo, native to Borneo and Sumatra.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | orangutan |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /əˌɹæŋ.uːˈtæn/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #37,126 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “orangutan” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 13 spelling variants around orangutan (IPA /əˌɹæŋ.uːˈtæn/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #37,126 among 15,494 “O” headwords. Dominant gloss: "An arboreal ape, characterised by their shaggy reddish-brown coat and long arms, which comprise the genus Pongo, native to Borneo and Sumatra.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for orangutan, with forms such as "oarngutan", "oragnutan", and "oranggutan". 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 is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Probably via Dutch orang-oetan, orang-oetang, apparently from Malay orang hutan, orang utan (literally “forest man”), from orang (“person, man”) + hutan (“forest”), although as a term for the animal it is attested only recently (earlier and preferred terms … The correct English form is orangutan, spelled O-R-A-N-G-U-T-A-N.
Definition
- 1An arboreal ape, characterised by their shaggy reddish-brown coat and long arms, which comprise the genus Pongo, native to Borneo and Sumatra.
Etymology
Probably via Dutch orang-oetan, orang-oetang, apparently from Malay orang hutan, orang utan (literally “forest man”), from orang (“person, man”) + hutan (“forest”), although as a term for the animal it is attested only recently (earlier and preferred terms being mawas and mayas). As there is originally no evidence for its usage, except occasionally literally, it must be assumed to have been regional, or a descriptive collocation used to explain the animal to early travellers. Forms in -ng are alterations after the first element, orang. The name orangutan has been used in Old Javanese texts, notably in Rāmāyaṇa and Smaradahana, in the form of uraṅutan and wuraṅutan. Its usage to refer to the apes in these texts (from as early as the 9th century CE) has been seen as a refutation of claims that the name orangutan originates from a European source.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- oarngutan
- oragnutan
- oranggutan
- orangtuan
- oranguatn
- orangutann
- orangutna
- oranguttan
- oranngutan
- oranugtan
- ornagutan
- orrangutan
- roangutan
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of orangutan - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 “orangutan”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-R-A-N-G-U-T-A-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əˌɹæŋ.uːˈtæn/ (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
Same frequency band
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.