ouroboros
/uːˈrɒbəˌrɒs/
"ouroboros" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ouroboros” is uncommon English (frequency #83,584 among 15,494 “O” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #83,584
- frequency rank, English
- 15,494
- “O” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A serpent, dragon or worm that eats its own tail, a representation of the continuous cycle of life and death.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ouroboros |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /uːˈrɒbəˌrɒs/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #83,584 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ouroboros” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
ouroboros is uncommon English at frequency #83,584 among 15,494 “O” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /uːˈrɒbəˌrɒs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for ouroboros in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek οὐροβόρος (ourobóros, “tail-devouring”, a compound of οὐρά (ourá, “tail”) + -βόρος (-bóros, “-devouring”, which is derived from the verb βιβρώσκω (bibrṓskō, “to eat up”))). The correct English form is ouroboros, spelled O-U-R-O-B-O-R-O-S.
Definition
- 1A serpent, dragon or worm that eats its own tail, a representation of the continuous cycle of life and death.
- 2Anything of a circular or recursive nature.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek οὐροβόρος (ourobóros, “tail-devouring”, a compound of οὐρά (ourá, “tail”) + -βόρος (-bóros, “-devouring”, which is derived from the verb βιβρώσκω (bibrṓskō, “to eat up”))).
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
How do you spell "ouroboros"?
What does "ouroboros" mean?
How do you pronounce "ouroboros"?
What is the origin of the word "ouroboros"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “ouroboros”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-U-R-O-B-O-R-O-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /uːˈrɒbəˌrɒs/ (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.