paean
/ˈpiː.ən/
"paean" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“paean” is uncommon English (frequency #58,916 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #58,916
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A chant or song, especially a hymn of thanksgiving for deliverance or victory, to Apollo or sometimes another god or goddess; hence any song sung to solicit victory in battle.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | paean |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpiː.ən/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #58,916 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “paean” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
paean is uncommon English at frequency #58,916 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpiː.ən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
paean has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin paeān (“a hymn, especially a victory hymn, to Apollo or another god”), from Ancient Greek παιᾱ́ν (paiā́n, “a chant or song, especially a thanksgiving or victory hymn, to Apollo under the name Παιᾱ́ν (Paiā́n)”), from the phrase Ἰὼ Παιᾱ́ν (Iṑ Paiā́… The correct English form is paean, spelled P-A-E-A-N.
Definition
- 1A chant or song, especially a hymn of thanksgiving for deliverance or victory, to Apollo or sometimes another god or goddess; hence any song sung to solicit victory in battle.
- 2Any loud and joyous song; a song of triumph.
- 3An enthusiastic expression of praise.
Etymology
From Latin paeān (“a hymn, especially a victory hymn, to Apollo or another god”), from Ancient Greek παιᾱ́ν (paiā́n, “a chant or song, especially a thanksgiving or victory hymn, to Apollo under the name Παιᾱ́ν (Paiā́n)”), from the phrase Ἰὼ Παιᾱ́ν (Iṑ Paiā́n, “O Paean!, Thanks to Paean!”). According to Homer, Paián or Paean was the name of the physician of the gods; its further etymology is unclear. It has been suggested that Παιᾱ́ν is derived from *παιάϝων (*paiáwōn, “one who heals illnesses through magic”), from *παῖϝα (*paîwa), *παϝία (*pawía, “to blow”), related to παίω (paíō, “to hit, strike”) (from Proto-Indo-European *pēu-, *pyu-, *pū- (“to hit; to cut”)), or from παύω (paúō, “to bring to an end; to abate, to stop”) (from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, little; smallness”)), or that it may be a Pre-Greek word. Compare Middle French and French paean (also French péan), Italian peana, Portuguese peã, péan.
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 "paean"?
What does "paean" mean?
How do you pronounce "paean"?
What is the origin of the word "paean"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “paean”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-A-E-A-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpiː.ən/ (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.