oriole
/ˈɔː.ɹiːˌəʊl/
"oriole" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“oriole” is uncommon English (frequency #63,121 among 1,431 “O” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #63,121
- frequency rank, English
- 1,431
- “O” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of various colourful passerine birds, New World orioles of the genus Icterus (family Icteridae) and Old World orioles of the family Oriolidae.
Corpus desk
Index EN-oriole · oriole · English
oriole · rank #63,121 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #63,121
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,431
- PHOTO-FINISH Orbison
Nearest frequency peer: Orbison (-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 “oriole”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- obvs
obvs
36,888 corpus weight
- oesophagus
oesophagus
36,887 corpus weight
- omicron
omicron
36,883 corpus weight
- Orbison
Orbison
36,881 corpus weight
- oriole
oriole
36,880 corpus weight
- overconfide…
overconfidence
36,877 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “oriole” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | oriole |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɔː.ɹiːˌəʊl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #63,121 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “oriole” in English
Rare enough to double-check
oriole is uncommon English at frequency #63,121 among 1,431 “O” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɔː.ɹiːˌəʊl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Any of various colourful passerine birds, New World orioles of the genus Icterus (family Icteridae) and Old World orioles of the family Oriolidae.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for oriole, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: A borrowing from Middle French oriol, from Old French oriol, from Latin aureolus, diminutive of aureus (“golden”). Doublet of aureole. First use appears c. 1776 in the writings of Thomas Pennant. The correct English form is oriole, spelled O-R-I-O-L-E.
Definition
- 1Any of various colourful passerine birds, New World orioles of the genus Icterus (family Icteridae) and Old World orioles of the family Oriolidae.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how oriole appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Those at risk include the wood thrush, a well-known songbird, and the Baltimore oriole, the mascot of Maryland’s baseball team.
Etymology
A borrowing from Middle French oriol, from Old French oriol, from Latin aureolus, diminutive of aureus (“golden”). Doublet of aureole. First use appears c. 1776 in the writings of Thomas Pennant.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "oriole", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).