osso buco

/ˌɒsəʊ ˈbuːkəʊ/

//ˌɒsəʊ ˈbuːkəʊ// noun

"osso-buco" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“osso buco” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A northern Italian dish of veal shanks and marrowbones braised in white wine, tomatoes, etc., often served with risotto.

Corpus desk

Index EN-osso-buco · osso buco · English

osso buco · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "O" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for osso buco
PropertyValue
Headwordosso buco
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌɒsəʊ ˈbuːkəʊ/
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “osso buco” in English

osso bucofalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

osso buco is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌɒsəʊ ˈbuːkəʊ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A northern Italian dish of veal shanks and marrowbones braised in white wine, tomatoes, etc., often served with risotto.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for osso buco in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Italian ossobuco (a compound of osso (“bone”) + buco (“hole”, or as an adjective, “hollow”)). The correct English form is osso buco, spelled O-S-S-O- -B-U-C-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    A northern Italian dish of veal shanks and marrowbones braised in white wine, tomatoes, etc., often served with risotto.

Etymology

From Italian ossobuco (a compound of osso (“bone”) + buco (“hole”, or as an adjective, “hollow”)).

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "osso buco"?
"osso buco" is spelled O-S-S-O- -B-U-C-O. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌɒsəʊ ˈbuːkəʊ/.
What does "osso buco" mean?
As a noun, "osso buco" means: A northern Italian dish of veal shanks and marrowbones braised in white wine, tomatoes, etc., often served with risotto.
How do you pronounce "osso buco"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "osso buco" is /ˌɒsəʊ ˈbuːkəʊ/. 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 "osso buco"?
From Italian ossobuco (a compound of osso (“bone”) + buco (“hole”, or as an adjective, “hollow”)). 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list