pastern
/ˈpæstən/
"pastern" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pastern” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The part of a horse's leg between the fetlock joint and the hoof.
Corpus desk
Index EN-pastern · pastern · English
pastern · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 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 | pastern |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpæstən/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “pastern” in English
Rare enough to double-check
pastern is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpæstən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
pastern doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English pastron, pastroun, pasturne, from Old French pasturon, diminutive of pasture (“shackle for a horse in pasture”), from Vulgar Latin pastōriā. The correct English form is pastern, spelled P-A-S-T-E-R-N.
Definition
- 1The part of a horse's leg between the fetlock joint and the hoof.
- 2A shackle for horses while pasturing.
- 3A patten.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how pastern appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
It was quite impossible to ride over the deeply-ploughed field; the earth bore only where there was still a little ice, in the thawed furrows the horse's legs sank in above its pasterns.
Below me, somewhere in the horse-lines, stood Cockbird, picketed to a peg in the ground by a rope which was already giving him a sore pastern.
Etymology
From Middle English pastron, pastroun, pasturne, from Old French pasturon, diminutive of pasture (“shackle for a horse in pasture”), from Vulgar Latin pastōriā.
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.