paleo-
/ˈpæl.i.əʊ/
"paleo" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“paleo-” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a prefix. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Old; ancient or primitive.
Corpus desk
Index EN-paleo · paleo- · English
paleo- · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | paleo- |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Prefix |
| IPA | /ˈpæl.i.əʊ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “paleo-” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
paleo- is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aprefix, transcribed /ˈpæl.i.əʊ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
paleo- has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek παλαιός (palaiós, “old”). The correct English form is paleo-, spelled P-A-L-E-O--.
Definition
- 1Old; ancient or primitive.
- 2Related to paleontology.
- 3Used to form informal names of taxa; basal.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek παλαιός (palaiós, “old”).
Antonyms
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
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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.