oriole
/ˈɔː.ɹiːˌəʊl/
"oriole" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“oriole” is uncommon English (frequency #63,121 among 15,494 “O” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #63,121
- frequency rank, English
- 15,494
- “O” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of various colourful passerine birds, New World orioles of the genus Icterus (family Icteridae) and Old World orioles of the family Oriolidae.
| 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) |
Where “oriole” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
oriole is uncommon English at frequency #63,121 among 15,494 “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.
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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Using “oriole”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-R-I-O-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɔː.ɹiːˌəʊl/ (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
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.